ONODERA USER RUN buys Guidable to link Japan's foreign-worker pipelines
What's the deal? Japan's ONODERA USER RUN (OUR) has acquired 100% of GuidableDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, operator of the foreign-worker recruitment platform Guidable Jobs, making the startup part of the OUR group. The share transfer takes effect July 31, 2026; terms were not disclosed.
Guidable runs a platform with around 500,000 registered users across 229 countries and regions. OUR specialises in "specified skilled worker" recruitment, having trained more than 12,000 people abroad and placed thousands into Japanese jobs.
Why now? Japan faces a severe labour shortage that its domestic workforce alone cannot fill. But policy shifts — including intake caps and temporary suspensions in sectors such as food service — have made overseas recruitment harder to rely on.
That has pushed activity toward job-switching among foreign workers already living in Japan, a market where Guidable claims one of the country's largest reach.
What's the endgame? The combined group wants to connect two routes: overseas training and recruitment through OUR, and domestic job-switching through Guidable's platform. The aim is to serve companies seeking either long-term hires developed abroad or immediate placements at home.
OUR runs an in-house scheme, "OUR Straight Through," covering language and skills training overseas, placement, and post-hire support. As of June 30, 2026, it had trained 12,162 people and placed 6,637 into active jobs.
OUR is part of ONODERA GROUP, founded in 1983, which operates across food service, human resources, medical, pharma, and sports businesses.
The signal: The deal reflects a shift in Japan's foreign-worker market from purely importing labour toward retaining and reallocating workers already in the country. As overseas intake tightens, consolidating both channels under one operator is a bet on controlling supply from recruitment through placement.
Read more: PR TIMES
Image credit: Guidable
