Demand is also strong in the construction industry, to which our Group dispatches engineers, thanks to solid public investment and a recovery in private capital investment. On the other hand, the hiring environment is becoming increasingly tough, and with caps on overtime work in the construction industry coming into effect in April 2024, the labor shortage problem in the industry is becoming more serious. Therefore, it is expected that the need for dispatching engineers will continue to increase in the future.
　With this favorable market environment, our Group actively engaged in recruitment and sales activities, which enabled us to steadily increase the number of employees and the unit price of contracts, and we were able to achieve significant increases in revenue and profits in the fiscal year ending October 2024. Revenue is expected to reach 21.6 billion yen, a 20% increase compared to the fiscal year ending October 2023, maintaining high growth. Operating profit increased 26% to 3.1 billion yen, thanks to reduced selling, general and administrative expenses.

Achievements and challenges

Overall, we saw significant increases in revenue and profits, reaching new records, but there is a mixture of successes and challenges.
First, in terms of sales for the construction solutions business, we were successful in raising the unit price of contracts, but we were unable to steadily secure destinations for experienced engineers and female engineers, which resulted in a decline in utilization rates. In terms of recruitment, aggressive investment in hire expenses has contributed to an increase in the number of hires, but hire costs have been rising year by year, and we view controlling hire expenses as a major challenge. In terms of career design to support engineers, we have made progress in implementing measures such as assistance with obtaining qualifications and establishing a follow-up system for new hires. However, we were unable to reach our target for reducing turnover rates, which is an issue for our group. We will continue to strengthen support for engineers who are concerned about losing their jobs.
In the IT solutions business, we have achieved some success, such as winning large-scale projects and improving turnover rates, but issues remain with regard to the number of upstream process projects won and the utilization rate.

Capitalizing on the market trend to achieve sustainable growth

The construction industry is expected to continue to see solid demand, but it is clear that the labor shortage will continue, and we expect the need for engineer dispatch services to increase even further. The important thing is to fully utilize this tailwind and turn it into sustainable growth. By focusing on two priorities – “ensuring a stable supply of human resources to meet customer demand” and “improving the turnover rate of engineers” – we aim to achieve revenue of 25.6 billion yen in the fiscal year ending October 2025, a 19% increase from the previous fiscal year. In addition, this fiscal year will be a year in which we will make proactive investments to expand our future hiring and operating numbers. Specifically, the company plans to strengthen its in-house recruitment media, support the training of engineers, and strengthen its sales and recruitment departments. As a result, we are projecting operating profit to increase 6% year on year to 3.3 billion yen.
　In addition to achieving our targets for this fiscal year, we will be taking the following four steps to ensure sustainable growth from next fiscal year onwards.

1. Enhancement of the functions of each process: “Sales,” “Recruitment,” and “Career Design”

The first of our key initiatives is to improve utilization ratio and reduce turnover rates by strengthening the functionality of each of our sales, recruitment, and career design processes. In terms of sales, we will strengthen our sales efforts to ensure stable placement of experienced and female engineers, which was an issue in the previous fiscal year. In terms of recruitment, we will work to increase the number of hires and reduce the cost per hire by strengthening our in-house recruitment media. Regarding career design for engineers, we will establish a collaborative system with the sales and recruitment departments in order to reduce turnover rates, and promote the creation of an environment where inexperienced engineers can seek advice on work-related issues and career plans.

2. Strengthening the development of our in-house recruitment media (Sekokan NEXT)

The second priority initiative is to strengthen the development of our in-house recruitment media. Through aggressive investment, the company will develop its in-house recruitment media, “Sekokan NEXT,” and strengthen recruitment methods such as direct recruiting, aiming to hire around 2,000 people in the current fiscal year. Additionally, we plan to reduce the cost of hiring by increasing the proportion of hires made through our own recruitment media and direct recruiting in the future.

3. Accelerating the rollout of new services such as construction digital transformation support

The third priority initiative is the development of new services. Based on the efforts made in the previous term, we plan to accelerate the development of construction digital transformation support services. During the current fiscal year, in order to increase the number of cases supported, we will enhance the content of training, strengthen the training of consultants and support staff, and move forward with dispatching teams made up of multiple people.

4. Formulation of medium-term management plan

The fourth priority initiative is the formulation of a medium-term management plan. Based on our vision for the Group and an analysis of the business environment, we plan to formulate a medium-term management plan by discussing not only our business strategies, but also the human capital that is the foundation of our business, and the finances and investments that support them. The timing for disclosing the medium-term management plan has not yet been determined, but we hope to disclose it during this fiscal year.

Supporting the development of engineers as a driving force for growth

Acquiring talented engineers is the driving force behind our group’s growth, but we believe that if we can also contribute to the growth of each individual engineer, we can further increase the speed of growth. The “passion to grow” of our engineers is what gives the business room to grow, so it is the company’s role to firmly support that desire.
World Corporation, a core company in the construction solutions business, launched the “Zero Pro Growth Cycle” career design support system in May of last year with the aim of creating a system in which engineers can continue to grow. As part of the program, we established a new exam preparation course for dispatched technical employees aiming to obtain qualifications. As a result, we were able to have many more successful candidates for the assistant construction management engineers exam, far exceeding our initial plan. Recently, we have received many requests from engineers to participate in qualification courses. We will continue to provide multifaceted support to help engineers grow.

We aim to be a company where anyone can become a professional.

The aging of engineers continues to progress, and the industry issue of a shortage of professional talent is becoming even more serious. However, the construction industry is a huge industry that accounts for 10% of Japan’s GDP, and it is an extremely rewarding job, as you get a sense of accomplishment from building large buildings over a long period of time with the help of craftsmen, and you also get a sense of social mission from building the nation’s infrastructure. We believe that our purpose in existence is to convey to the younger generation the wonderfulness and rewarding aspects of this industry, to pique their interest, and to train them as professionals so that as many young people as possible will take on the future of the construction industry. To that end, we aim to provide value to our customers by developing skilled engineers and making them a valuable force in the field, while at the same time, we hope that our employees will also find their work meaningful and enrich their lives by developing their skills.
　We sincerely ask all our stakeholders for their continued support.