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General affairs and human affairs workers

How to become a General Affairs Clerk

Also called: Administration clerk, Records clerk

Handles work that affects the whole organisation, such as classifying, organising and storing documents, managing fixed assets, share-related matters and preparing and running shareholders' meetings and board meetings.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university or high school is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualification is required for this job. Some people are assigned to general affairs as soon as they are hired as new graduates, while others work in operations, engineering, sales, planning or other areas first and are then moved to general affairs. General affairs involves dealing with many departments in the company and responding quickly to proposals and requests, so a certain amount of experience working in the company helps. Useful qualifications include first-class health officer, Nissho Boki (bookkeeping) level 2, third-class chief electrical engineer and fire prevention manager. None of these is required before joining; people usually gain them after joining as needed, often using company training schemes. It is said to take at least about three years of experience to handle the many issues that arise within the company. You need accurate, quick judgement and the drive to act on your own initiative. There is a lot of coordinating and negotiating with other departments and staff, so communication skills and consideration for others are also needed. It is also important to keep gathering accurate information on what competitors are doing and on relationships with suppliers and local residents.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a General Affairs Clerk?

No particular education or qualification is required for this job. Some people are assigned to general affairs as soon as they are hired as new graduates, while others work in operations, engineering, sales, planning or other areas first and are then moved to general affairs. General affairs involves dealing with many departments in the company and responding quickly to proposals and requests, so a certain amount of experience working in the company helps. Useful qualifications include first-class health officer, Nissho Boki (bookkeeping) level 2, third-class chief electrical engineer and fire prevention manager. None of these is required before joining; people usually gain them after joining as needed, often using company training schemes. It is said to take at least about three years of experience to handle the many issues that arise within the company. You need accurate, quick judgement and the drive to act on your own initiative. There is a lot of coordinating and negotiating with other departments and staff, so communication skills and consideration for others are also needed. It is also important to keep gathering accurate information on what competitors are doing and on relationships with suppliers and local residents.

How much does a General Affairs Clerk earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,252,200 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group General affairs and human affairs workers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a General Affairs Clerk?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 43% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a General Affairs Clerk?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026