Japan’s Fair Trade Commission Inspects Five Staffing Firms in First On-Site Cartel Probe

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission conducted on-site inspections Tuesday at Persol Tempstaff, Recruit Staffing and three other staffing companies over allegations they formed a cartel to raise service fees. The inspections on June 2, 2026, marked the first time the antimonopoly watchdog carried out on-site examinations of firms in Japan’s temporary staffing industry, sources said.

The five companies are suspected of agreeing to raise staffing service fees around November 2022, the sources said.

Staffing service fees are paid by companies that accept workers sent by the staffing agencies. According to the Japan Staffing Services Association, about 70 percent of staffing service fees cover salaries paid to dispatched workers. 2 percent.

The five firms are suspected of having raised the fees to boost their own profits rather than to improve working conditions for dispatched workers, the sources said. 5 percent of all employed people, the association reported. 6 trillion in fiscal 2020 after restrictions on dispatching workers to manufacturing operations were lifted in 2004.