Japan antitrust watchdog raids five major staffing firms over fee hikes
2026-06-02
Raids over staffing fee hikes
The Fair Trade Commission on the 2nd carried out on-site inspections of five major staffing firms on suspicion that they had formed a price cartel over raising staffing fees, according to interviews with people familiar with the matter. The probe was launched on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Act through unfair restraints on trade.
The firms targeted were PERSOL TEMPSTAFF, Staff Service Holdings, Recruit Staffing, Adecco and ManpowerGroup. Each company commented that the inspection was a fact and that it would fully cooperate.
The commission's view
According to the people, executives at the companies are suspected of agreeing to unfair nationwide coordination over higher staffing fees from fiscal 2023 onward, substantially restricting competition. The commission apparently believes the firms may have raised margin ratios, which correspond to profits, in line with fee revisions. It is also possible that fee increases were not fully reflected in pay rises for dispatched workers.
This is believed to be the first such inspection by the commission into the staffing industry. Going forward, it will examine the sectors covered by the cartel and the background to the fee revisions, while also analyzing materials collected during the raids and questioning people involved.
Staffing fees and market size
Staffing fees are paid by client companies to staffing agencies. They are generally calculated based on hourly rates and actual working hours, and then contracted. The amount left after deducting wages paid to dispatched workers from staffing fees remains with the staffing agency as margin, including overhead costs and profit.
A Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry survey shows that in recent years the rate of increase in staffing fees received by staffing agencies from client companies has continued to outpace the rate of increase in wages paid to dispatched workers. The share of margin in staffing fees remained in the 35% range from fiscal 2018, when the current statistical category began, through fiscal 2022, but rose to the 36% range from fiscal 2023 onward.
The staffing market is expanding amid labor shortages. Total sales of the worker dispatch business in fiscal 2024 came to 9.9005 trillion yen, according to preliminary figures. The number of dispatched workers was about 2.2 million and the number of client placements about 860,000, both higher than a year earlier.
The Antimonopoly Act bans cartels that adjust prices, output and other factors as unfair restraints on trade. If a violation is found, the commission can order measures to eliminate the violation and prevent recurrences, as well as surcharge payments. Companies that voluntarily report violations can receive leniency under the surcharge reduction system.