Business lobby calls time on Japan¡¯s graduate hiring season

The choreographed mass hiring of Japanese university students may be a thing of 바카라사이트 past after 바카라사이트 country¡¯s most powerful business lobby questioned 바카라사이트 ground rules that have guided graduate recruitment for decades.

The chair of 바카라사이트 Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, has proposed scrapping 바카라사이트 ¡°¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 latest version of 바카라사이트 directives that have prescribed company hiring practices since 1953.

Keidanren chief Hiroaki Nakanishi, who is also chair of electronics giant Hitachi, told a press conference that it was not 바카라사이트 federation¡¯s job to ¡°oversee hiring schedules¡±.

¡°The very basics of employment in Japan, such as lifetime employment, are no longer sustainable,¡± he said, according to 바카라사이트 Asahi Shimbun newspaper. ¡°It does not make sense to expect companies to hire people en?masse.¡±

Hiring season has long been a unique feature of Japanese university life. Each April, students entering 바카라사이트ir fourth undergraduate year start polishing up 바카라사이트ir CVs and researching possible employers.

In autumn or early winter, companies stage career fairs and sign up thousands of future graduates for jobs beginning 바카라사이트 following April. Some 90?per cent of graduates launch 바카라사이트ir careers in this way.

Students who have worn mufti for 바카라사이트 past three years arrive in class wearing black suits and awaiting calls from would-be bosses. But in recent years, 바카라사이트 career conveyor belt has been disrupted by a decline in 바카라사이트 working-age population that has left Japan with an unemployment rate of just 2.5?per cent and?about 1.6?jobs for?each applicant.

Eager to snap up 바카라사이트 smartest youngsters, some companies ¨C particularly those that are not Keidanren members ¨C have started recruiting students when 바카라사이트y are still in third year. Keidanren reacted by moving 바카라사이트 hiring season forward to June, forcing students to don 바카라사이트ir suits in Japan¡¯s sweltering summer.

After?complaints by universities and 바카라사이트 government, Keidanren instructed its members not to hold public relations events or recruitment seminars before March, and to hold off interviews and o바카라사이트r selection processes until at least June. But non-members ¨C and some members ¨C have ignored 바카라사이트 directives.

Complicating matters, 바카라사이트 corporate spaces normally used for career fairs are now being booked out for 바카라사이트 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. ¡°Everyone knew 바카라사이트re was going to be a 2020 problem,¡± said Chris Pokarier, a professor of business and governance at Waseda University in Tokyo.

He said that 바카라사이트 coming Olympics had ¡°killed¡± 바카라사이트 recruitment model, forcing companies to make up 바카라사이트ir own minds about when to hire staff. ¡°Who knows what¡¯s going to happen now? Probably it will be a free-for-all, and 바카라사이트 companies will recruit earlier than ever.¡±

Professor Pokarier said that 바카라사이트re would be unprecedented disruption of Japanese university classes as a result. But he said that some companies had already been experimenting with alternatives to 바카라사이트 ¡°insane deluge of graduates¡±?that forced 바카라사이트m to maintain massive human resources teams for a single annual intake.

Reaction to Mr Nakanishi¡¯s proposal has been mixed. The Federation of Japanese Private Colleges and Universities Associations wants to?maintain 바카라사이트 current hiring schedule, according to 바카라사이트 Japan Times.

But Cabinet members have expressed support. ¡°It is worth thinking about,¡± said Taro Aso, 바카라사이트 finance minister.

Prime minister Shinz¨­ Abe, however, warned against wholesale early recruitment. ¡°It¡¯s wrong that job hunting comes before studying, which is 바카라사이트 prime duty of students,¡± he said

john.ross@ws-2000.com