Q&A at the Briefing of the Financial Results of the 2nd Quarter Ended
September 30, 2022 (held on November 11, 2022)
Questioner 1:
Please explain the impact of the current macro environment on Staffing SBU.
Please also explain the impact of the recent rise of wages on the billing rates inFY2023.
Deputy President Takahashi:
We understand that the impact of macro environment on Staffing SBU is limited
at the moment, because demand from corporate customers has remained strong.
On the other hand, regarding the acquisition of temporary staff on the supplierside, competition has been intensifying throughout the temporary staffing market.
Regarding this part, we will continue to increase marketing expenses at a certain
rate in the 2nd half of FY2022 and from FY2023 onward.
Regarding our future policy on the recent rise in wages, we plan to give sufficient
returns to temporary staff by holding thorough discussions with corporate
customers.
Questioner 2:
Please explain the factors for the increases in expenses for Solution SBU andsegment adjustment in the 2nd half of FY2022.
CFO Tokunaga:
First, regarding Solution SBU, we assume that we will continue to makeinvestments and use expenses for acquiring customers in the 2nd half of FY2022
and from FY2023 onward.
Next, regarding the increase in expenses for segment adjustment, the main
factor is the increase in depreciation associated with the introduction of a
new accounting policy for asset retirement obligations and others. The
new accounting policy was introduced at the beginning of FY2022, and its effectin FY2022 (full year) is expected to be around 2.0 billion yen. No major year-onyear change is expected from FY2023 onward, although it depends on the statusof asset acquisition.

Questioner 3:
You said that, in the 2nd half of FY2022, each SBU will enjoy strong demand but
will use costs for competition to acquire human resources. Please tell me yourpolicy on costs for FY2023 and thereafter.
President Wada:
To demonstrate competitive advantage in the market in the future, we have tojoin the competition to acquire human resources. We understand that a certain
amount of cost will remain necessary for this purpose. Moving forward, we would
like to invest in improving our supply capacity, including marketing expenses, inour efforts to raise the PERSOL Group's position in the market.
Questioner 4:
Please tell me your medium- to long-term prospects and strategies for eachannual income group in the placement business of Career SBU.
Deputy President Takahashi:
Please see page 39 of presentation slides. For the majority group (annual income
level: 4 million to 6 million yen), where we have strength, we provide services
with doda and doda plus being the mainstay. Regarding the group with thisannual income level, we achieved a high rate of growth in net sales, exceeding
40%, in the 1st half of FY2022. We believe that we will be able to maintain growthin the medium to long term as well.
On the other hand, for the high-class domain (annual income level: 8 million yenor more), we have just begun proactive investments. We would like to broaden
the base of this domain in the future. We will achieve high-speed growth by taking
initiatives including marketing investments and personnel distribution, aiming toenhance our presence in the career-change market in the high-class domain in
the future.

Questioner 5:
Please tell me your strategy in direct recruiting. Please also describe thesynergies or other effects between MIIDAS, a service from Solution SBU, andCareer SBU, if any, although they are different SBUs.
Deputy President Takahashi:
The strengths of our services lie in not only our supply of a human resource
database but also our established framework, under which we attract customers
on our own and send human resources to corporate customers on our own. The
growth of the direct recruiting market in Japan is slow compared to othercountries. However, it is expected to continue growing gradually, so we will makepreparations, including preparations related to MIIDAS, for the growth of market
demand.
President Wada:
Regarding the combination of services, we are considering providing hybrids ofvarious brands to cater to the hiring needs of corporate customers. The provisionof hybrid services will enable us to provide a definitive solution to corporate
customers' hiring issues, which will be our strength. We believe that this willultimately give greater value to the PERSOL Group's existence in the market.
Questioner 6:
Could you describe the direction of the next mid-term management plan to bedisclosed in May 2023?
President Wada:
We will take the following initiatives while achieving stable growth of temporary
staffing as our core business.
- Focusing our efforts on placement business as a growth market- Focusing our efforts on outsourcing-related businesses, including BPO,
demand for which has been growing recently- Improving the profitability of Asia Pacific SBU
Regarding our policy on shareholder returns, discussions are underway at present.
We would like to thoroughly discuss the balance between investments forbusiness growth and shareholder returns, as well as how to provide the returns.