What UZUZ does

UZUZ is a Tokyo-based private employment services company founded in February 2012 by Okamoto Hiroki, Kawabata Shōtarō, and (until 2020) Imamura Kuniyuki. The company targets young Japanese job seekers in their 20s — specifically second-year new graduates, late graduates (既卒), and freeters — a segment most traditional recruiters underserve. Its core product is individualized career counseling and matching, delivered through a proprietary owned-media acquisition funnel (career site, YouTube, Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, LINE) that generates 3,000–4,000+ new candidate registrations per month without reliance on paid job boards. The company reports a 79.1% hiring success rate, 94.5% one-year post-hire retention, and 96% three-month retention across 63,110 cumulative supported job seekers (as of May 2024).

The business operates as a multi-product group rather than a single staffing agency. Revenue streams include corporate recruitment placement fees (transaction-based, industry-standard), IT school tuition via Uzuz College (covering infrastructure, development, embedded, and AI training tracks, with ¥15万+ cumulative participants), corporate training services (UzukareBiz group and 1-on-1 training, often subsidy-eligible), and IT engineer dispatch via the ESES subsidiary under the SES (System Engineering Service) model. A specialized IT recruitment agent (Uzukare Agent) and RPO service were added to the portfolio. The company holds PrivacyMark and ISMS certifications, has offices in Tokyo (Shinjuku), Osaka, and Asahikawa, and was ranked in the Great Place to Work Japan small-company category in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

UZUZ's go-to-market is dual-sided: a self-serve/web-based funnel captures individual job seekers at no cost, while a direct enterprise sales motion (inquiry form → 1-business-day callback → on-site or web consultation → DB-sourced candidates with pre-briefing) acquires corporate clients. Distribution is exclusively domestic Japan. The group is wholly founder-owned with no disclosed external investors, and is currently extending into accredited vocational education through 学校法人UZUZ, which will operate the Asahikawa Medical Secretary Technical School from April 2026. Revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

UZUZ

Legal name

株式会社UZUZ

Website

https://uzuz.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

UZUZ is a Tokyo-based private employment services group that places young Japanese job seekers (second-year new graduates, late graduates, freeters) via owned-media candidate acquisition, individualized counseling, and an integrated IT training-to-placement pipeline, also offering corporate training and SES dispatch.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recruitment and Staffing Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Computer Training (611420), Technical and Trade Schools (6115), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Career Coaching, Mentoring & Placement Support Services (EDAAAKAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Career Exploration & Labor Market Readiness (EDAAAKAA), Vendor/Authorized Certification Training (Microsoft/AWS/Cisco, etc.) (BPAEANAA), Systems Administration & IT Operations (Windows/Linux, Monitoring, ITSM) (EDABAFAH)

Keywords

• Youth recruitment services
• IT engineer training
• Corporate staffing solutions
• Career placement agency
• Second career employment

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Corporate recruitment fee (人材紹介): Companies pay a placement fee for each successful hire. UZUZ matches candidates from its proprietary DB to corporate requirements, conducts pre-interview briefings, and manages the hiring process through onboarding. Fee structure is industry-standard and quote-based.
2. IT school tuition (ウズウズカレッジ): Uzuz College offers IT skill training (infrastructure, development, embedded, AI) via group training, 1-on-1 coaching, and e-learning. Revenue comes from corporate clients sponsoring trainee enrollment and from individual learners. Subsidized training using '人材開発支援助成金' is also available.
3. Corporate training services (ウズカレBiz): B2B training services for companies: IT upskilling and business skill training for young employees. Companies pay per training program or through subsidy programs.
4. SES (System Engineering Service): Engineering services provided to client companies via派遣 (dispatch) model, placing IT engineers at client sites. Revenue generated through engineer billing to client companies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

UZUZ provides individually tailored employment support and IT training services for young Japanese workers in their 20s (new graduates, second-year graduates, late graduates, and freeters) and hires them out to corporate clients. The core placement business is supported by an integrated IT school (Uzuz College) that pre-trains candidates in development, infrastructure, embedded, and AI engineering before placement, with corporate clients paying industry-standard placement fees upon successful hire. Supplementary offerings include corporate training programs (Uzukare Biz) for companies' young employees and SES engineer dispatch through subsidiary ESES.

Product overview

UZUZ operates a multi-product employment and education ecosystem for young Japanese people in their 20s (second-year new graduates, graduates without employment, and freelance workers). The portfolio is organized around three pillars: (1) Uzuz Career Support — a core bespoke employment placement service providing 1-on-1 counseling and job matching with a 96% three-month retention rate; (2) Uzuz College — an IT school offering development engineer, infrastructure engineer, embedded engineer, and AI training tracks, functioning as a pipeline into its placement services; and (3) Corporate training (ウズカレBiz / Uzuz College Biz) — providing group training, 1-on-1 training, and RPO services to enterprise clients. The group's education business also extends to a formal vocational school (旭川医療秘書専門学校) under Gakko Hojin UZUZ. Supporting the portfolio are content properties including the second career media platform (第二の就活), YouTube channels, free practice exam tools (ウズカレテスト), and Udemy video courses. The group recently launched ウズカレエージェント, an IT-specialized recruitment agent. All services are tied together through a shared focus on employment matching quality and retention outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ウズウズキャリアサポート: Customized employment support service for second-year new graduates, post-graduates, and freeters in their 20s
• ウズウズカレッジ
• ウズカレBiz
• ウズカレエージェント

Products and services

• Uzuz Career Support (ウズウズキャリアサポート) An individually tailored (1-on-1) employment support service for 20-somethings including new graduates, second-year graduates, late graduates, and freeters, providing personalized career counseling, resume/interview preparation, job matching, and onboarding follow-up support. Service is free for job seekers; revenue is generated from corporate placement fees upon successful hiring.
• Uzuz College (ウズウズカレッジ) IT school offering skill development programs for becoming an IT engineer, including training curricula for development engineers, infrastructure engineers, embedded engineers, and AI engineers, positioned as a bridge to employment support. Pre-trains candidates with practical IT skills (CCNA, LPIC/LinuC, Java, networks, servers) before placement, reducing corporate onboarding costs.
• Uzukare Biz (ウズカレBiz) Corporate training service targeting companies' young employees in their 20s, providing IT training (infrastructure, development, embedded, AI) and business skills training programs via group training, 1-on-1 coaching, and e-learning/metaverse-based formats. Eligible for use of the 人材開発支援助成金 government subsidy.
• SES (System Engineering Services) via ESES, inc. Technical services delivered through IT engineers (SEs and programmers) to corporate clients under the ESES subsidiary brand, operating with an 'Engineer First' system for career and compensation choices. Engineers are billed to client companies on a dispatch basis.
• IT Talent Recruitment Service (IT人材紹介サービス) IT-focused recruitment and placement service connecting companies with young IT talent who have completed foundational IT training through Uzuz College, offering high retention rates (97%+) and skills-matched placements. Includes dedicated IT-specialized career advisors and a proprietary IT candidate database of 4,000+ monthly registrations.
• IT Training Services for Corporations (インフラ/開発/デジタル人材研修) Online training programs to develop new employees into IT engineers and DX talent, including infrastructure engineer, development engineer, and digital talent training tracks. Utilizes 人材開発支援助成金 (employment development support subsidies) to reduce training costs for corporate clients.
• RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) Recruitment process outsourcing service leveraging the expertise of a recruitment company, including consulting, schedule planning, channel selection, vendor management, and initial candidate outreach for corporate clients that need external support for their hiring operations.
• Uzuz College Group Training Service (ウズウズカレッジ グループ研修サービス) In-person group training combined with e-learning and metaverse-based learning for corporate clients, focused on new hire and mid-career engineer training with KPI-linked outcomes. Delivered via Uzuz College under the corporate training portfolio.
• Uzuz College 1-on-1 Training Service (ウズウズカレッジ 1on1研修サービス) One-on-one training with instructor support for individual or small-group post-hire training and concurrent upskilling, offering customized responses to participant needs, skill improvement, certification, and soft skills development for corporate clients.
• Uzukare Agent (ウズカレエージェント) IT-industry specialized job-hunting agent connecting IT professionals with companies, launched as part of the Uzuz College group to support direct matching between trained IT candidates and corporate hiring needs.
• Asahikawa Medical Secretary Technical School (旭川医療秘書専門学校) A vocational school in Asahikawa, Hokkaido operated by Gakko Hojin UZUZ, offering medical secretary programs with planned IT/AI business and Japanese language programs, aiming to develop next-generation talent combining medical knowledge and IT skills for DX in healthcare settings.

Quantifiable outcome

• 96% 3-month post-hire retention rate (industry top-class)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• 学校法人UZUZcoreOthers · 1 April 2026Educational corporation established by UZUZ Group to operate Asahikawa Medical Secretarial College (旭川医療秘書専門学校) from April 2026, offering medical secretarial, IT/AI business, and Japanese language programs. Scholarships funded by UZUZ Group profits enable financially constrained youth to access education.
• 株式会社UZUZ Holdings (UZUZホールディングス)coreOthersParent holding company of the UZUZ Group. The group comprises UZUZ (recruitment), ESES (SES/engineering services), Uzuz College (IT training), Otaks (group company), and Uzuz Plus (employment support for people with illness/disability).
• 株式会社ESEScoreOthersSubsidiary providing SES (Systems Engineering Service) — IT engineer dispatch and technical services to client companies. Led by Shirokawa (白川).
• 株式会社UZUZ COLLEGEcoreOthersSubsidiary operating Uzuz College IT school, providing IT skills training (infrastructure, development, embedded, AI) and talent placement services for corporations. Led by Managing Director Kawabata.
• 株式会社OtakscoreOthersGroup company engaged in IT engineering/SES services. Shira<awa serves as director.
• 株式会社UZUZ PluscoreOthersGroup company providing employment transition support services for people with illness or disability.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DMM WEBCAMP: DMM Group's IT/programming bootcamp that combines technical training with job-placement support. Comparable to UZUZ's Uzuz College training-to-placement model targeting career-changers and young job seekers in Japan.
• SAMURAI ENGINEER: Japanese programming school offering online and in-person IT training with job-placement assistance. Directly comparable to Uzuz College in serving career-changers/freeters seeking IT engineering roles in Japan.
• Levtech (Leverages): Specialized IT engineer placement firm targeting experienced and junior engineers in Japan. Directly comparable to UZUZ's IT talent recruitment and ESES SES services, with similar corporate client base.
• Workport (ワークポート): Japan-focused IT/engineer placement firm with nationwide coverage and IT-training partnerships. Comparable in serving the same IT-engineer hiring demand that UZUZ targets via Uzuz College graduates.
• Geekly (ギークリー): IT engineer-focused placement agency serving startups to large enterprises in Japan. Comparable to UZUZ's IT placement vertical and SES offering with overlapping enterprise customers.

Broad incumbents

• Recruit Holdings (Rikunabi / Indeed Japan): Japan's largest recruitment group operating Rikunabi (new-grad), Indeed Japan, and multiple HR media brands. Provides broad competitive context for UZUZ's candidate-acquisition funnel and corporate placement fees.
• Persol Career (doda): Major Japanese recruiting firm operating doda job board and placement services across white-collar segments. Comparable as a broad incumbent competing for the same mid-career and corporate hiring budgets UZUZ targets.
• en-japan: Japanese recruiting firm operating en-Change, en-Agent, and other job platforms. Comparable broad incumbent with overlapping placement services and mid-career candidate pool.
• Mynavi (マイナビ): Major Japanese recruiting media and placement firm operating across new-grad and mid-career segments. Provides broad competitive context for UZUZ's owned-media candidate acquisition and corporate placement.

Emerging players

• TECH::CAMP (Innovation): Programming bootcamp offering training in web development, AI, and design with career-change support. Comparable emerging player in the IT-training-to-placement space adjacent to Uzuz College.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UZUZ_uzcc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCRDj3fsO4eEwh1yHgRoRiww
• Facebookfacebook.com/uzuz.jp
• Instagraminstagram.com/uzuzcollege

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UZUZ