Recent trends and issues in young peoples' employment

According to the results of a survey carried out by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the percentage of students planning to graduate next spring from high school or university who found work as of October 1 was higher than that recorded at the same time last year.

The percentage of university students who had found work was 61.3%, and exceeded the previous year's level for the first time in three years. The rate for male high school students, at 44.0%, surpassed 40% for the first time in three years, while the rate for female high school students, which dipped below 30% last year for an all-time low, recovered to 33.1%.

While the results seem to reflect the somewhat tentative recovery of the Japanese economy, there are noticeable regional disparities. Concerns have also been voiced at the growth in the number of high school graduates hired on one-year contracts, and on dispatch/contract and other non-permanent employment basis. In addition, with the rise in the college enrollment rate and the subsequent increase in the number of graduating students themselves, difficult times are set to continue for job-seeking students.

What do companies expect of fresh graduates, and what is the reality?

Results of a Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) survey entitled "Questionnaire on the Type of Personnel Sought by Companies" (with responses from 520 member companies), which were released in November, contain some interesting responses.

Many companies responded that, as the criteria for recruitment, they place great importance on the ability of new graduates to "be able to state their views clearly, taking into full account the opinions or questions of the other party." However, companies indicated that they rated recent students poorly in terms of this skill.

Similar results were seen with regard to the degree of originality seen among fresh graduates. The questionnaire served to highlight the disparity between expectations and reality in the communication abilities and innovativeness of today's young people.

What about the increase in young people who do not seek employment?

In an Internet survey (with 1,000 respondents) carried out in November among the general public by Nomura Research Institute on NEETs, or people "not in education, employment, or training," 87% of respondents predicted that there would be an increase in the number of NEETs in the future, while 93% perceived such a growth in NEETs as problematic. As for the perceived effects of the growth in NEETs on society, 71.6% cited the breakdown of the social security system, 59.4% cited stagnation of economic growth, and 57.7% cited an increase in crime, among other factors.

In the meantime, Nippon Keidanren also released an opinion paper in November, calling for immediate measures to boost the motivation and skills level of young people not in education, employment, or training.

These developments expose a number of crucial issues, such as those relating to who should foster and develop enthusiastic young people who will become major players in the next generation, with considerable communication and intellectual abilities, and how this should be done, as well as how working environments attractive to younger workers can be created.