PROGOS Inc., the subsidiary of RareJob, Inc. (hereafter, “RareJob”), which utilizes data related to human resource to develop global talents , updated the AI business English speaking test PROGOS®. English guidelines, questions and feedback of PROGOS® are now available for foreign companies and non-Japanese-speaking people as previous version has only Japanese guidelines, questions and feedback for Japanese-speaking people. We formed a business alliance with PERSONNEL CONSULTANT MANPOWER (THAILAND) CO., LTD. (hereafter, “PERSONNEL”), the major Japanese recruitment agency in Thailand as the first partner to introduce PROGOS® with English guidelines. PERSONNEL started providing “PROGOS®” for Thai job seekers on a large scale.

Background for the expansion of PROGOS® overseas

PROGOS® is the exam that visualizes English speaking ability based on CEFR international standards. Automated AI scoring makes it quick, inexpensive, and easy to take. PROGOS® had over 70,000 examinees which means it has the biggest number of examinees among English speaking exams in Japan for the last one year since its release in June 2020. (*1) In 2021, we set a target to conduct the exam 1 million times per year. The exam has already received 250,000 applications and as of August.
PROGOS® was expected to expand globally since its launch because an English speaking test has been needed in many non-English-speaking countries. It is because English is one of the most common languages in the world, however, current English speaking tests have some issues that need to be improved such as their expensive fees and hussle to apply and take exams. PROGOS® was awarded the silver prize of Reimagine Education Award 2020 last year as the first Japanese organization. It enables examiness to take an exam quickly and inexpensively. In addition, it doesn’t need to have human markers so it can send results for a number of examinees without any limitation of the number of examinees. These advantages were highly evaluated.
In addition to PROGOS® for Japanese-speaking people, PROGOS® for non-Japanese-speaking people with English guidelines, questions and feedback is now available. This update has made it possible for us to expand our business overseas.

Large-scale provision of PROGOS® with English guideline for Thai job seekers

PERSONNEL, the major recruitment agency with a long history for the Japanese and the Thai placement service, has been doing business with approximately 9,000 Japanese companies in Thailand. And more than 0.1 million Thai job seekers registered their CVs with the agency. PROGOS Inc. will provide PROGOS® with English guidelines for free to candidates who register with PERSONNEL. We expect that 10,000 candidates will take the exam by the end of March 2022. By this initiative, PERSONNEL will be able to focus on seeing if candidates have practical, strong communication and other skills without being worried about their English skills when they interview candidates. Consequently, it will reduce mismatches when introducing candidates to Japanese companies.
From now on, we promote CEFR as well as the use of PROGOS® to assess English speaking skills of employees of Japanese companies in Thailand. We plan to do more developmental initiatives by making advantage of both companies’ business platforms and achievements in each country.

Challenges in recruitment agency for Japanese companies in Thailand

Thailand is the country where many Japanese companies, mainly manufacturers which have local plants, are expanding their business. The official language is Thai, but English is needed to communicate with local people. Therefore, practical English speaking skill is required at work.
When introducing Thai candidates to Japanese companies, recruiters will confirm their Japanese and English proficiency both by interviews. Judgments for each language proficiency can be often varied depending on each recruiter, in addition to the need for a lot of human resources to do this, which were problematic.
To solve these issues, Japanese companies and recruitment agencies in Thailand need to understand the English speaking skills of Thai candidates accurately and reasonably to improve recruitment activities.

Prospect for PROGOS® business expansion in the world

PROGOS® is the English speaking test that complies with the international standard CEFR. We believe that the entire world can be our potential market for business development. We will further accelerate the promotion of PROGOS® in other countries by PROGOS® with English guidelines as the starting point. At the same time, we will work to resolve issues related to the English speaking test and keep making efforts to realize the vision of PROGOS Inc., ”developing the global leaders truly needed in the world”.

*1 As of June 2021, according to our survey

About PROGOS Inc.

Address: 6th Floor, CRANES Park Building, 18-1, Jingumae 6-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Masuyo Ando, President and COO
URL:https://www.progos.co.jp/
Business: Services related to assessment, training, and recruitment of global leaders

About PERSONNEL CONSULTANT MANPOWER (THAILAND) CO., LTD.

Address: L, UL Floor Interchange21 Bldg., 399 Sukhumvit Road, North Klongtoey, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Representative: Yasushi Odahara, President
URL:https://www.personnelconsultant.co.th/
Description of business: Thai and Japanese staff placement services for Japanese companies in Thailand; dispatch services for interpretation, translation in Thai/Japanese/English and accounting affairs; rental office management; seminars for Japanese and Thai people; business consultants