Japan Job News:

 https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20201118/p2g/00m/0bu/012000c

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese companies have been cutting job offers to new graduates at the fastest pace in more than a decade, a government survey showed Tuesday, as the coronavirus pandemic has forced firms into thorough efforts to reduce costs.

As of Oct. 1, 69.8 percent of university students who will graduate next spring have received job offers, down 7.0 points from a year earlier. It was the sharpest fall since 2009 when the rate dropped 7.4 points amid the global financial crisis, according to the joint survey by the education and labor ministries.

Ideas and Commentary:

Its not a surprise that companies are cutting job offers to new graduates and are still very uncertain about future. Not to long ago there were something like 2.1 jobs per new graduate to choose from n Japan. 

And and at the same time the so-called labor shortage that existed up until recently. But of course, as with economy, the question has to be asked just what kind of jobs or industries or sectors is there really a job shortage?  Managerial type jobs, factory type jobs, retail type jobs or jobs that a normal university graduate is not wiling to take?

Article:

It is the first time in five years that the ratio has fallen below 70 percent in October. The government began the survey in 1996.

"As companies have canceled job fairs, students have fewer opportunities for information gathering and consultations. We will support them," a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry official said.

The survey was conducted on 4,770 students from 62 national, public and private universities across Japan via telephone or in person.

Ideas and Commentary:

While up until recently there many jobs for new university graduates in Japan to choose from. However, it has also been reported and the government and whomever has been trying to change the hiring culture, as would be graduates supposedly have to spend up to a year or more related to job searches and companies seemed to be unwilling the change their hiring practices which always seemed to create conflicts between universities and companies.  

Article:

Among industries hit by the pandemic, airlines are notably struggling with a significant fall in air travel demand.

ANA Holdings Inc., the parent of All Nippon Airways Co., said Tuesday they and other group firms will hire a total of about 200 new graduates for the business year starting next April.

The group employed around 700 for the current year after the pandemic forced it to revise a plan to hire about 3,200.

Ideas and Commentary:

Probably many companies like ANA are revising their hiring plans. When the pandemic first hit last winter/spring ANA came out as saying, at the time they were not going to layoff any workers but had a plan to reduce hours and salaries and no immediate layoffs. 

At the time I found that refreshing and they were thinking long term and not just short term. They were thinking of their human capital and not just shareholders, who seem to always want immediate profits or results. 

Another article in the spring/summer came out about how Japanese companies were able to survive or sustain themselves through the pandemic. Of course much has changed since then but it was another somewhat refreshing article about difference between businesses in Japan and the US.

For example the article said Japanese salaries were kept somewhat low as a way for companies to have some kind of "rainy day" fund for situations just like the pandemic and employees bought into it as they, up until the pandemic, they would not be fired or laid off at the first major downturn in business.

Another article also stated that in Japan many companies have agreements with other companies that allows them to move employees around from company to company if a company,at the time, temporarily doesn't need the same amount of human capital, so they temporarily move an employee to another company until business conditions improve and they don't need again to fire or layoff works.

I found that a very long term mindful approach that looks out for the welfare and benefits of the workers and not just thinking of short term gains that many US companies do.