Japanese companies had extended job offers to 85.6% of university students set to graduate in March next year as of the end of August, down 2.0 percentage points from a year earlier but leaving intact a market in which job seekers, not employers, hold the upper hand.
Recruiting firm Mynavi surveyed 1,557 undergraduate and graduate students online between Aug. 25 and 31 and found that 85.6% held at least one job offer as of the end of August, Kyodo News reported on the 1st. The rate was 88.9% for science and engineering students, 5.4 percentage points above the 83.5% for humanities and social science majors. Compared with the same month a year earlier, the rate fell 3.1 percentage points for humanities students and 0.2 percentage point for science students. Companies short of workers because of the declining birth rate have moved their selection processes earlier.
Japanese employers typically complete selection about a year before graduation and promise successful candidates a place in advance. The government has urged companies to delay selection activities until June and formal offer notifications until October or later to avoid disrupting studies. In line with that guideline, large companies gather successful candidates every year on Oct. 1 for what is known as a naiteishiki, a ceremony that formalizes their hiring. Events were held across the country again on the 1st. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology put the offer rate for prospective university graduates at 73.4% as of Oct. 1 last year. Because the survey methods differ, that figure cannot be compared directly with Mynavi's.
Many students decline the offers they receive. The Recruit Works Institute reported a withdrawal rate of 51.7% as of June, meaning half of those who received offers gave up the positions. In a survey released last month by Avava, 69.9% of large and midsize companies said they had seen candidates withdraw around the time of the offer ceremony. In response, companies hold individual meetings before the start date to accommodate preferences on work location and arrange gatherings with senior employees.
Pay competition is also intensifying. In a hiring plan survey released by Nikkei in April, the average starting monthly salary for university graduates this year reached a record 267,220 yen (about 2.35 million won). A total of 149 companies raised pay by more than 10%, and 245 companies offered 300,000 yen (about 2.64 million won) or more a month, an increase of about 90% in one year. Even so, the figure fell short of the 288,000 yen (about 2.53 million won) students said they hoped for on average in the Mynavi survey. The Institute of Labour Administration surveyed 205 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime Market on April 30 and found an average starting salary for university graduates of 265,708 yen, up 13,283 yen. Both surveys put the average in the high 260,000-yen range.
Home appliance retailer Nojima said on the 30th of last month that it had promoted two university students working part time at its stores to store manager. They were selected based on their customer service and sales records, and receive the same treatment as regular store managers, along with authority over budgets and hiring. The two began work at stores in Kanagawa Prefecture on the 1st. They are the company's first store managers who are still students.
Nojima also has a program that adds part-time work history to starting pay. It applies to students who have worked for more than a year and demonstrated results and an ability to make proposals. The maximum starting salary for those joining next year is 438,000 yen a month (about 3.85 million won), up 38,000 yen (about 330,000 won) from 400,000 yen (about 3.52 million won) this year, and can reach 477,000 yen (about 4.2 million won) a month including position allowances. About half of the roughly 10,000 staff at its stores nationwide are student part-timers. The Tokyo Shimbun read the move as a signal that the company will weigh ability and performance over age and employment status, with the aim of widening its pool of applicants. The company said the step was intended to keep talented students from leaving for competitors. Nojima held an offer ceremony on the 1st for about 900 university students, where President Hiroshi Nojima spoke of a "contribution ranking" that favors employees who have served customers well.
