In the race to bring life-saving therapies to market, we have noticed a dangerous trend: the search for the “perfect” candidate is becoming the enemy of progress.
Currently, 65% of life sciences organizations globally are struggling to find “suitably qualified” talent. In Japan, the crisis is even more acute. According to the 2025 OECD Employment Outlook, Japan’s labor market tightness has reached a 30-year high, with a diffusion index of -35, indicating a widespread labor shortage that spans every technical domain. Many firms are paralyzed by the hunt for the “Black Swan”—the candidate who has done the exact job before. But in 2026, waiting for perfection is a massive financial liability.
The $540,000-a-Day Cost of Inaction
What does a “slow” hire actually cost? Let’s look at the data. Recent reports from Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science (2024) show that each day of delay in drug development costs approximately $500,000 in unrealized revenue and $40,000 in direct clinical trial expenses.
If you are searching for a “perfect” Head of Regulatory and the seat remains empty for six months, you aren’t just missing a person—you are likely missing your IND (Investigational New Drug) submission window. In Japan’s rapidly aging society, where the pharmaceutical market is projected to reach $84.4 billion in 2025, a half-year delay hands your competitors a massive head start. An “80% fit” who can execute today is infinitely more valuable than a “100% fit” who arrives two quarters too late.
Hiring for Potential: The Performance Multiplier
We are advising our clients to shift from pedigree-based hiring to skills-based hiring. Data from LinkedIn and HBS suggests that hiring professionals who prioritize skills data are 60% more likely to fill roles than those relying on traditional titles.
At Morunda, we have found that moving a high-performer from Oncology into a niche field like Regenerative Medicine (a major focus in Japan for 2026) is often more predictive of success. These “adjacent” hires bring high learning agility—a critical trait when 52% of AI initiatives in pharma now require cross-functional integration.
The APAC Advantage and the Stellar EVP
Japan, Singapore, and South Korea are now the world’s “Innovation Engines.” However, 80% of pharma companies report shortages in specialized domains like AI-powered drug discovery and genomics. To win, you need more than a high salary; you need a Stellar EVP (Employer Value Proposition). Top-tier talent in Tokyo and Osaka is looking for “Decision Architecture”—they want to know that your organization is built for speed, not bureaucracy.
Partnering for Intelligence, Not Just CVs
We position Morunda as your Market Intelligence partner. We help you refine the job spec before the search starts to ensure the role is actually “hirable” in the current Japanese market.
The Bottom Line:
Speed and clarity win. If your hiring process takes 4+ months, you are losing the top 5% of talent to competitors who have streamlined their decision-making. It’s time to pivot from searching for perfection to identifying potential.
Hiring for perfection is slowing you down. If you’re ready to identify high-potential talent and move faster in today’s market, book a discovery session with Morunda.
