TOKYO Jiji Press - More than 30% of major Japanese firms will hire more graduates in spring 2024 than this spring, according to a Jiji Press survey.
Competition for human resources is intensifying amid a recovery from the COVID 19 crisis, while concerns about the country's declining population and shortages of information technology personnel are growing.
The survey covered the graduate hiring plans for spring 2024 of 100 major companies. The questions were sent out from mid-February, and responses were received by mid-March.
The number of companies planning to hire more new graduates was 36, up from three from the previous year s survey and topping 30% for the second straight year.
Toshiba Corp. plans to employ 610 new graduates next spring, up 40% from this spring. The plan is based on the need to allocate personnel, including power semiconductors, according to a Toshiba official.
Fujifilm Holdings Corp. plans to increase the hiring of new graduates by 20% to 1,000.
Zensho Holdings Co. is targeting an 80% increase in the hiring of new graduates.
Only four companies plan to reduce graduate hiring, down from nine, according to the survey.
Aeon Co. plans to reduce the number of new hires to about 2,700 from about 3,000, citing a fall in the number of workers needed due to progress in digital reform.
44 of the other companies said they plan to maintain their graduate hiring levels, and 16 did not give responses.
48 companies said the hiring environment is tougher in the medium to long run and that the hiring environment is seen as getting tougher in the medium to long run.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. said it could become difficult to hire excellent personnel due to the declining birth rate. Kyocera Corp. said competition for technology personnel could increase. NEC Corp. said demand for workers with science backgrounds will grow.
Several companies, including department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd., said they are struggling to respond to the trend of starting job-hunting activities earlier and diversifying such activities.
Takayoshi Kurita, chief of the employment research institute of the job information provider Recruit Co, said the labor shortage issue was hard to spot in the wake of the coronaviruses crisis.
Kurita said companies are accelerating their efforts to recruit and train new graduates because they find it hard to find digital transformation experts through mid-career recruitment.