Compass Expands Employment Support: Contracted by 10 Municipalities Nationwide for Fiscal Year 2025

Compass Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture; Representative Director and CEO: Ai Otsu; hereinafter "Compass"), a company promoting GovTech in employment support, has been contracted to provide employment support services for 11 projects across 10 municipalities nationwide for fiscal year 2025.

This brings the total number of municipalities that have adopted Compass's services since its founding to 16, as the company's online career counseling platform continues to expand across the country.

Overview of Fiscal Year 2025 Contracts Number of municipalities served: 10 municipalities nationwide Number of projects: 11 projects *1: The number of municipalities and projects differ because two projects were contracted in Kobe City.

Areas of Support (by Target Demographic) - Employment support for single-parent households (single mothers, etc.) - Management of online salons for young carers - Re-employment support for the middle-aged and older generations - Employment support for women - Promotion of U-turn and I-turn migration to regional areas - Management consulting for small and medium-sized enterprise owners - Promotion of inclusive employment

Background In Japan, employment support has become an urgent issue for municipalities nationwide due to the declining birthrate, aging population, and shifts in the labor market. While the need for support is growing among diverse groups—such as single-parent households, young carers, and the middle-aged—the burden on local government staff is increasing due to the difficulty of securing enough personnel to handle the rising number of consultations. Amidst this, there is a demand for "systems that allow for consultation without time or location constraints" and "support structures that can be managed even with limited personnel." Compass has been working with municipalities to build new employment support mechanisms centered on "consultation x technology."

Features of Compass - Online career counseling available during nights and holidays - Professional support provided by nationally certified career consultants - Consultation platform utilizing data and AI - Flexible design based on operational experience across multiple municipalities

Representative Comment (Ai Otsu, Representative Director and CEO, Compass Inc.) Under our mission to "eliminate the working poor," we have provided career counseling opportunities to those who need support but have not been adequately reached, including the employment ice-age generation, single-parent households, young carers, and the middle-aged. However, due to constraints on time and location, as well as staff shortages at consultation counters, the necessary support is not currently reaching everyone who needs it.

To address these challenges, Compass has provided "DX (Digital Transformation) Consultation Counters" that complement areas difficult for municipalities to handle alone by combining AI and data-driven consultation infrastructure with a system capable of responding during nights and holidays.

Securing contracts for 11 projects across 10 municipalities is a testament to the fact that this new form of support is in demand in every region. We will continue to expand our consultation platform as a social infrastructure, broadening the environment where everyone can access support whenever they need it.

Future Outlook Compass began its services in the Kansai region, based in Kobe, and has since expanded to the Hokuriku, Kanto, and Chugoku-Shikoku regions. Through these new contracts, our employment support initiatives are spreading further across the country.

Moving forward, we will further strengthen our partnerships with municipalities, accelerate the nationwide rollout of our consultation platform, and advance the social implementation of a "system where everyone can access support whenever they need it."

*In this release, "Fiscal Year 2025" refers to the fiscal year of each municipality (April 2025 to March 2026).