Employment Conditions Difficult

The economic package the government compiled recently includes measures to help new university graduates find jobs.

Just 91.8 percent of this spring's university graduates received tentative job offers, the lowest figure in a decade. With deflation and the stronger yen dimming economic prospects, businesses expect to hire fewer new recruits next spring, further worsening the employment situation.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan has been bringing up employment at every opportunity, saying, "Employment comes first, second and third [in the government's priorities]." But the public wants to see results. Regardless of who wins the upcoming Democratic Party of Japan presidential race, the government must urgently ensure stable employment for young people, especially new university graduates.

The core of the government's support policy for new university grads is to promote employment at small and midsize companies willing to recruit staff.

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Incentives needed

The government initially plans to increase the number of job counselors at universities and HelloWork job placement offices, and generate job offers from small and midsize firms through close coordination among these counselors. The plan also calls for raising awareness among new university graduates of the advantages of working at small and midsize companies, thereby expanding employment at such firms.

If many fresh university graduates land jobs at small and midsize firms possessing significant growth potential, it will revitalize the nation's industries.

Another plan will provide financial incentives to businesses that take on, as trial recruits and trainees, people who fail to find jobs after graduation or repeat a year at university. Money also will be paid to companies that hire people who graduated within the past three years as part of their intake of new graduates.

The employment situation remains grim. Providing these financial incentives could be necessary to encourage corporate recruitment. By the same token, it is essential to correct the situation in which people's chances for employment evaporate if a year or more passes after their graduation from university.

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No time to waste

In the meantime, an increasing number of firms have been transferring their production overseas to deal with falling domestic demand caused by the stronger yen and the declining birthrate and aging population. This structural change cannot be solved fundamentally simply by increasing the number of job counselors and offering companies cash incentives.

The "new growth strategy," which the government decided on in June, calls for quickly ending deflation and putting the national economy on the road to full-scale recovery.

Undoubtedly, a strategy to heighten corporate desire for recruitment is indispensable, but the government has been slow to take action to achieve this goal.

In the economic package compiled recently, the government called for assisting technological development by small and midsize companies, regulatory and institutional reforms and tax incentives aimed at stimulating domestic investment.

Recent surveys have shown many university students lack professionalism and have poor communication skills. When hiring staff, however, more and more companies prize attributes such as specialized skills and expertise that could enable their employees to work globally.

We urge the government, universities and students themselves to face up to--and adapt to--this reality.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/T100906002878.htm