Employment rate for Japan’s fresh graduates in 2021 falls again

The employment rate for Japan’s university graduates has fallen for the second consecutive year amid the pandemic, with a total of 74.2% of graduates who found jobs in March, down 3.5 percentage points year-on-year. 

Official data shows that the number of fresh graduates who landed a job fell to 432,790, with employment offers declining in some sectors due to the spread of COVID-19, reports Kyodo News.

The number of students who continued attending graduate school instead of joining the workforce rose by about 4,000 to 68,776, or 11.8%  percent of the total. Meanwhile some 56,228 graduates, or 9.6%, did not land a job or proceed to graduate school, registering an increase of 15,000 year-on-year. 

Of fresh graduates who found jobs, 411,802 landed permanent jobs, down about 16,000 year-on-year. Workers who were on fixed-term contracts of one year or longer increased by 2,500 to 15,947. 

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Many Japanese businesses have stopped new hiring as the pandemic affected domestic consumption and led to restriction in business activities. In particular, the tourism and restaurant sectors were hit hard as the public were advised to stay home to control the spread of COVID-19.