Mar 20 (Japan Times) - The proportion of job-seeking university students in Japan graduating this month who had secured informal job offers as of Feb. 1 fell for the first time in 10 years, a government survey showed Friday.
The figure stood at 89.5%, down 2.8 percentage points from a year before, according to the joint survey by the labor and education ministries.
The fall came after airlines and other companies hit hard by the novel coronavirus crisis cut back on hiring.
The rate of year-on-year drop shrank from the previous survey taken in Dec. 1 last year.
“Companies are starting to make up for delays in hiring activities caused by the virus crisis,” a labor ministry official said.
But some of the companies have been impacted by the coronavirus state of emergency that was declared in January, and it is unclear whether the final job-securing rate will reach 95% as it has in recent years.
The rate for male students stood at 88.1%, while the figure for female students stood at 91.2%.
Source: ANNnewsCH
