Fostering the Next Generation of Engineers and Work-Style Innovation

TERADA : : For the CTC Group, it is the presence of our excellent engineers that can appeal to clients more about our technological capabilities than any advertisement or promotional campaign. The intention behind our creation-in April 2014-of new personnel class system for high-level engineers, such as Principals and Senior Executive Engineers, was not only to provide appropriate treatment for our expert personnel, but also to appeal to our clients about the existence of our highly skilled engineers in a more easy-to-understand form. For junior and mid-career engineers, too, these senior engineers should represent a major target to aim towards in terms of envisaging their own future career plans.

FUJISAWA : And that's why we've had three senior engineers from amongst the elite ranks of those Principals and Senior Executive Engineers participate in this discussion with us today, isn't it? In the IT industry in recent times, attention is gathering around "full-stack engineers" equipped with a broad range of technical skills. How do you all see the issues in developing human resources for the future?

NAKAI : I think that one of the factors behind the attention being directed towards full-stack engineers is the reaction to the jobs of IT engineers becoming too finally compartmentalized. In my view, until around the 1990s it wasn't unusual for a single engineer to be involved totally in all stages of development; from building the basic platform/infrastructure to application development. But from around the year 2000 onwards, as systems became larger in scale and more complex, the segmentation and specialization of different areas of technology-such as infrastructure, networks, middleware and applications?began to progress at a rapid pace.

NISHIZAKI : With the appearance of new technologies such as cloud computing and virtualization, which bridge multiple fields of specialization, the qualities being demanded of engineers are beginning to change once again. It is now being demanded that, at the same time as gaining a deep understanding of certain technologies as a specialist, each individual engineer must also interconnect closely with other engineers in a broad range of fields, and have the ability to integrate new technologies and services.

NAKAI : As a result of the compartmentalization of technologies, in recent times many engineers have a tendency to draw a line and say "this is as far as my area of specialty goes." But I think that if engineers continue to confine themselves to specialist areas in this way, they will eventually find themselves out of a job. While keeping a central focus on their own area of specialism, it is important for them to have the proper attitude of expanding their abilities to surrounding technical fields and business areas.

TERADA : In the Human Resources Management & General Affairs Division, too, we believe that in the future engineers will be required to have the qualities of both a specialist and a generalist at the same time, rather than being just one or the other.

ISHIKAWA : Even when you are responsible for a limited part of a system, in a specific area of technology, the important thing as an engineer is stay constantly aware of what kind of function or role the part of the development that you are responsible for fulfills in terms of the system as a whole and, going further still, what kind of meaning or significance it has with regard to wider society. In order to create solutions that will bring new value to society, it is important to have the stance of constantly considering what kind of possibilities may lie ahead of current technologies. I feel that there is a need for the CTC Group to train and develop engineers with that kind of imagination.

NISHIZAKI : Ultimately, what will be demanded of engineers is their capacity as human beings. Regardless of whether you're working as an engineer or a sales representative, it is essential to properly recognize the role of your own particular job in terms of the whole, and to work with hospitality towards others. Because, no matter how high the level of your specialist abilities may be, if you are unable to make effective use of them in your interactions with other project members and with clients then those abilities are meaningless.

FUJISAWA : What kind of efforts are you making to train those kinds of engineers?

TERADA : We've established a committee for the enhancement of our engineering capabilities, and are discussing policies for training engineers. More specifically, we conduct interviews with our employees in each department on a yearly basis to discuss planning their career paths and raising their skill levels. Based on these discussions, we then formulate our annual training plans for individual engineers.

NAKAI : For example, in the case of a network engineer, we set targets for this year such as "to deepen their understanding of network technologies and obtain a new qualification," or "to expand their area of specialism by learning about other technologies such as servers and databases."

TERADA : We have opened an Advanced Technology Lab, and established an environment in which our engineers can exchange information and actually learn hands-on about the latest technologies, including cloud and mobile technologies. As far as selective training programs, we also conduct practical OJT (On Job Training) in which engineers identify actual issues in the workplace and provide coaching and guidance; and run training programs in which engineers can experience mock virtual system building projects, under environments that differ from their everyday working environments.

FUJISAWA : When I imagine IT engineers, I have the impression that it's an extremely busy job. Can your engineers secure sufficient time for training and personal development?

FUJISAWA : As the problem of Japan's declining birthrate becomes increasingly more severe, the promotion of active roles for women is becoming a major social issue. How is CTC working to utilize the abilities of women and to develop their careers?

TERADA : While people shout about utilizing the abilities of women, if we look at the statistics, in actual reality the number of women in management roles in the IT industry is declining. Until now the CTC Group had been unable to produce any significant achievements with regard to utilizing the abilities of female employees. But now we are finally starting to see female employees who have experienced multiple periods of maternity and childcare leave becoming managers. While the number of such employees is still small, I would like for these women to become mentors who will listen to the concerns of young and mid-career female employees and help them to paint a picture of their future careers. Of course, we in the Human Resources Management & General Affairs Division, too, intend to provide support by working to create workplace environment and various support schemes that will make it easier for women to take an active role.

FUJISAWA : Aside from the declining birthrate there are other problems behind the fact that advances in diversity, including the empowerment of women, are being demanded. For example, I think one problem is that if the business workplace becomes entirely populated by Japanese men, it becomes more difficult for innovation to take place. What do you think?

FUJISAWA : From listening to what you have all had to say today, I have understood that the work of engineers and the qualities demanded of them in the IT industry is beginning to change significantly. In terms of the Japanese government's growth strategies, too, the government is now considering initiatives such as introducing programming education at elementary schools for the children who will be responsible for the next generation.