A Tokyo temp agency has started offering job placement services for Chinese information technology engineers in Japan who want to go home and work for a Japanese firm there, the company said Wednesday.

PA Co., listed on the Mothers market for startups on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, said it began the new operation earlier this month in collaboration with Beijing PA Consulting Co., its consolidated subsidiary.

According to PA, which was established in 1986, there are an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Chinese IT engineers working in Japan. The number keeps growing partly due to a shortfall in the number of IT engineers here, PA said.

At the same time, demand for IT engineers with work experience in Japan is on the rise in China, where the market for software development is expanding, the company said.

PA runs Internet sites for job-switching assistance for IT engineers and has some 500 Chinese engineers registered, it said.

The company plans to expand the registration of Chinese IT workers to some 1,000, it said.