KAYAC Inc. and JOINS Co., Ltd. entered into a business partnership for the “SMOUT” matching service for promoting migration and related population.
The two companies will combine the features of “SMOUT,” which connects people looking to relocate to the region, and “JOINS,” which matches people looking for side jobs, part-time jobs, and job changes with small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas, to launch a matching service that provides comprehensive support for “work” and “life” through the “SMOUT” website. Through this business alliance, they aim to provide new options for people who want to “work in the region as a second career” or “find a way of working and living that suits them,” and to resolve the labor shortage faced by local companies.
Japan is facing a declining birthrate and an aging population, and the decline in the working-age population is causing serious labor shortages, especially in rural areas. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ 2024 “Population Movement Report,” only seven prefectures – Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Osaka, Chiba, Fukuoka, and Yamanashi – have a net in-migration rate, meaning that the number of people moving in exceeds the number of people moving out, while the remaining 40 prefectures are experiencing a net out-migration rate. The government aims to achieve a balance between in-migration and out-migration between rural areas and the Tokyo metropolitan area by fiscal 2027.
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On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about major changes in the way we work. The spread of remote work has led to a rise in flexible working styles, and new options have emerged, such as “working while traveling between cities and rural areas” and “being involved in multiple regions.” Against this backdrop, “human resource sharing,” which utilizes side jobs, concurrent jobs, and remote work, is attracting attention as a powerful way to alleviate labor shortages in rural areas.
In fact, interest in working in rural areas is on the rise. According to a “Survey on Working in Rural Areas” by Persol Career’s “HiPro,” about 60% of company employees living in the Tokyo metropolitan area and three prefectures responded that they are interested in “side jobs in rural areas.” This makes it clear that urban talent is interested in working in rural areas.
In this situation, “SMOUT” and “JOINS” have been working to solve local issues with different approaches. Since its launch in 2018, “SMOUT” has grown into one of Japan’s largest migration and related population creation services, connecting people looking to migrate to local areas, with a cumulative total of more than 68,000 users and more than 1,100 regions as of March 2025. Meanwhile, “JOINS” has been matching urban talent with regional companies since 2017, supporting more than 1,000 companies and closing more than 1,400 deals, contributing to resolving the regional talent shortage in the areas of job changes and side jobs.
Therefore, through this business partnership, we will integrate the two services and provide comprehensive support from job hunting to local consultations. In particular, we will focus on promoting relocation and “dual-location work” to provide more flexible work style options. “Dual-location work” is a work style that assumes that you maintain your current residence while also having a base in the local area, and go to the office at least 3 to 4 days a week. Utilizing this system, we will contribute to resolving the labor shortage in the region.
SOURCE: PRTimes
