Japan Company Jobs:

 Article Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230105/p2g/00m/0bu/018000c

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A recent survey showed 15.5 percent of Japanese firms are planning to hire more university graduates in 2024 as new employees from the previous year, reflecting an increased willingness to hire amid a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The survey said only 3.6 percent of firms that responded are considering cutting back hiring students scheduled to graduate from universities and graduate schools in 2024, according to the Recruit Works Institute.

The figures improved from the same survey conducted the previous year, in which 10.9 percent of firms said they would increase new graduate hires in 2023 with 3.9 percent responding otherwise.

Ideas:

Japanese companies by now should be in a good enough position to begin to hire more university graduates after a three years of less than normal hiring.

But of course it depends on the industry and sector and the domestic or international environment.

A willingness to hire it not exactly the same thing as actually hiring. Only time will tell as to how many companies actually hire in the future.

Article:

The results are attributable to "improvement in business sentiment while labor shortages continue," said Hiroyuki Motegi, a researcher at the institute.

Domestic firms' appetite for hiring new employees has been robust in all industry sectors, the report said. Among them, telecommunications topped the list at 21.7 percent, followed by restaurants and hotels at 20.1 percent.

As it has become difficult for many companies to hire new employees as planned amid fierce competition with rivals, 54.9 percent have already raised their starting salaries or are planning to do so, up 10.4 percentage points from a year earlier.

Ideas:

Labor shortages is a sign of either companies not enough salaries that new graduates want or need and or graduates are looking for better work/life work conditions.

Most likely telecommunications companies are more cutting edge and maybe more progressive and are willing to experiment with work/life balances that you workers want not to mention the need for improved salaries.

Starting salaries have just been a challenge in Japan and with inflation the way it is the need is for companies, in order to get the best talent they need to offer the best salaries that they can afford.

Article:

The survey covered 7,200 private companies with five or more employees across the country, of which 4,341, or 60.3 percent, replied between October and November last year.

Meanwhile, a separate survey by job hunting information provider Disco Inc. found that 56.3 percent of university students scheduled to graduate in 2024 expect job hunting to be more "severe" than the previous year, citing negative economic factors such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rising prices and a weaker yen.

It also found that 71.7 percent of the respondents are not satisfied with their lives at universities due to pandemic safety measures that have made it difficult for them to answer the question, "What did you focus on during your university life?" -- something frequently asked during job interviews.

Ideas:

Small companies, of course, will have more challenges providing the work/life balance and salaries that big companies might be able to afford. But the opposite could be true, as maybe smaller companies are more flexible and able to do more things.

It's always been a challenge for future university graduates to focus on their studies and having to do a lot of interview during their final year.

It might be more beneficial if companies didn't put so much pressure on the hiring process and allow and more flexible hiring style if at all possible.

Article:

According to the survey, a female student said many people in her grade who entered university in the spring of 2020 during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak are now moving into the next grade without being able to take on new challenges.

The online survey collected 1,040 answers in November.

In Japan, where the academic year starts in April, a large number of companies annually hire new graduates in bulk and university students typically start their job hunting about a year before their scheduled graduation in March.

Ideas:

Maybe companies should move away from the bulk hiring system and hire year round and at the same time, move away from the idea of one system to provide as much flexibility as possible.

Its unfortunate that young graduates have to spend their entire last year only looking for a future job. They should be able to focus on their last year of studies and not have to miss classes because of job interviews.

The hiring system needs to become more flexible and its seems to be too rigid and too competitive for today's workforce. 

Perhaps the reason why some or many drop out of trying to find a job is it's just to rigid for the 21st century graduate, and a more flexible humane system should be put into place.

Article:

Members of the Japan Business Federation follow guidelines of the country's most powerful business lobby that allow them to hold job orientation sessions from March for juniors and start interviewing and other screening processes in June.

Ideas:

Again why should a 4 year or even a 3rd year student have to spend one or two years away from their studies and not be able to focus on their studies.

The system needs to change and allow for a more flexible system for hiring which limits the amount of time students have to be away from classes just to meet the needs of companies.

But Japan industry or most companies still remain inflexible remain in the 20th century.

Of course there are many companies that have embraced a 21st century approach and are allowing for more flexible hiring or recruitment situations.

Have a nice day and be safe!