Transcosmos : Forms Capital & Business Alliance with Workshift, a Crowdsourcing Operator

transcosmos inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and COO: Masataka Okuda; TSE First Section: 9715; hereafter, transcosmos) formed a capital and business alliance with Workshift Solutions Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Shigenori Araki; hereafter, Workshift), a global crowdsourcing operator, by way of underwriting the capital increase through third-party allocation of new shares issued by Workshift.

'Crowdsourcing', the practice of outsourcing tasks to freelancers, part-timers, double-jobbers, etc. with expertise in their respective fields via the internet and signing a service contract instead of a traditional employment contract between companies and those workers, has gained momentum in Japan since around 2009. Now the market is expected to reach close to 295 billion yen by 2020. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry held a study group meeting on leveraging freelancers in November 2016 as part of its efforts to achieve 'work-style-reforms' and the ministry is currently discussing the future direction. While crowdsourcing is drawing public attention along with the heightened need for new working styles, such as work-at-home and by-work, to cope with the declining population and diversification of employment patterns, corporations that outsource their businesses require crowdsourcing operators to develop a secure environment and provide a quality management framework to secure information security as well as troubleshooting capability.

Since its service launch in 2014, Workshift has been steadily growing its revenues as the only Japanese crowdsourcing servicer which operates an integrated crowdsourcing platform specializing in global businesses. With over 43,000 registered professionals across 138 countries around the globe, the company provides crowdsourcing services including market research, multi-language translation and website marketing for its clients such as municipalities, large corporations, universities, and more.

transocosmos is equipped with know-how on quality management and operations in BPO services ranging from contact center services and digital marketing to E-Commerce One-Stop Services.

Blending the 'crowdsourcing operational know-how' of Workshift with transcosmos's 'quality management and operational know-how' through this capital and business alliance, transcosmos develops and enhances a quality new outsourcing platform for skilled workers who have work experience and a skillset but are currently restricted from working full-time to now fully unleash their skills regardless of time and place, while providing corporations with flexible access to those skilled workers.

Through the alliance with Workshift, which will accelerate efforts to strengthen its service delivery platform, transcosmos will help their clients expand sales and reduce costs with even greater speed than before.

*1 Source: 'Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Market Current Trends and Future Prospects 2016-2017', October 2016, YANO Research

*2 Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Study Group on Working Styles Not Bounded by Traditional Employment Relations Held its First Meeting on November 17, 2016

'We are delighted and excited with this capital and business alliance with Workshift,' said Kenshi Matsubara, Executive Managing Director at transcosmos inc. 'transcosmos has been supporting our clients to improve their customer experience and optimize their business processes by relentlessly pursuing our Operational Excellence since our foundation. As the working population declines in Japan, market expectations for our BPO services are rising higher than ever since businesses are struggling to secure competitive force as a result of the apparent staffing shortage. Under these circumstances, we are confident that we can further contribute to our clients' business growth while supporting various working styles for skilled workers by developing and enhancing our outsourcing platform with quality and speed, leveraging our long-standing operational know-how together with Workshift.'

'Workshift has been providing internet service for businesses from Japan to leverage global skilled workers. In general, skilled freelancers in emerging countries work on tasks outsourced by businesses in advanced countries, leveraging global crowdsourcing services. I am convinced that crowdsourcing services that enable businesses to tap global skilled workers via the internet, can work as one of the solutions to solving social challenges that Japan faces such as the low birth rate, aging society and declining population,' said Shigenori Araki, President and CEO, Workshift Solutions Co., Ltd. 'We will drive and accelerate our initiatives to grow our global crowdsourcing business building on this strategic capital alliance with transcosmos. I am excited to deliver our new crowdsourcing service, blending transcosmos' BPO services know-how with our global network.'

Related Services

* transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. in Japan and other countries.
* Other company names and product or service names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies.

About Workshift Solutions Co., Ltd.

With a mission to 'change how we work and make the world smaller,' we offer a crowdsourcing service where you can easily outsource jobs to the world online. We support overseas projects such as market research, translation in multiple languages, design, website marketing, IT programming amongst others. Our network of more than 43,000 registered experts from over 138 countries around the world provides services to municipalities, universities, major corporations and more.

Company Name:Workshift Solutions Co., Ltd.Representative:President and CEO Shigenori ArakiHeadquarters:2-8-7 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, TokyoFounded:September, 2013Workshift Service Website:https://workshift-sol.com/ Company Overview:http://workshift-sol.co.jp/Business:Crowdsourcing services operationsNumber of Registered Users:More than 43,000 skilled users, from over 138 countries around the world

About transcosmos inc.

transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior 'people' with up-to-date 'technology' to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients' business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost reduction through our 169 locations across 31 countries with a focus in Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce Services to deliver our clients' excellent products and services to consumers in 48 countries around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the 'Global Digital Transformation Partner' of our clients, supporting the clients' transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever changing business environment.