Spring for Young People
This winter the temperature hovered at a higher level than usual, and abnormal weather phenomena across the country, such as a lack of snow in normally snowy regions, frequently made the headlines. There was concern that the cherry blossom season - the traditional, symbolic sign of spring in Japan - might begin too early. Under these conditions, graduation and enrollment ceremonies, which those concerned will never forget as a major event in their lives, were held everywhere in Japan.
Soon after crying farewell at school graduation ceremonies, young people attend initiation ceremonies for the companies they have joined. Current economic conditions have a substantial impact on young graduates: this year, quite a few large firms considerably increased hiring, while some increased starting salaries to secure human resources. With the labor market tight, the so-called "ice age" for college or university-graduate job seekers seems to have become a distant memory, though it was a mere four or five years ago.
Statistics published in March by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare show that some 850,000 students graduating this spring from colleges, universities and high schools had found jobs. Survey findings published recently by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry say that workers hired by Japanese firms in Asia totaled 3.053 million as of March 2006, an increase of 10.1 percent from the previous fiscal year: that is, the number of new recruits hired abroad in the previous fiscal year was more than 270,000.
The Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development, as every year, analyzed the general characteristics of this year's newly graduated recruits and suggested a term to describe them: "day traders." The Center explains that this new batch of recruits will change jobs frequently for better working conditions, as the way day traders make profits by buying and selling stocks in the short term and never become stable stockholders. The life-long employment system has practically deteriorated and changing jobs is no longer rare; a survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication shows that a total of 3.46 million workers in fact changed jobs in 2006, an increase of 60,000 people over the previous year, and a record high since 2002 when the survey began.
Whatever they may be likened to, young people today are not lukewarm towards professional development. Firms which have substantially increased the hiring of workers both at home and abroad may face the necessity of revising their human resource and training programs in order to deal with changes in the attitudes of young people.
