Staffing and internet firm Recruit Holdings Co., one of Japan’s biggest and most laid-back companies, was well positioned for the work-from-home shift and transition to a post-COVID-19 future, said Chief Executive Officer Hisayuki Idekoba.
The "ground-up type of culture” at Japan’s fifth-biggest company, where employees are judged on their ability to deliver results rather than time spent in the office or sitting in meetings, was an asset during the pandemic, according to Idekoba, 46, who became the youngest CEO in the Nikkei 225 Index when he took over in April.
"We’re relatively flexible and we were OK to have changes all the time,” Idekoba said in a recent interview at Recruit’s Tokyo headquarters. "This office, probably we have 10% or less employees here.”