SATURDAY, MARCH 23
SOURCE: JIJI PRESS

A recent poll has found that more than 30 percent of Japanese companies surveyed plan to hire more new graduates in spring 2020 than they did this year.

Including those aiming to secure about the same number as this spring, more than 80 percent of all respondents are seen as being keen to hire in 2020.

The Jiji Press survey was conducted on 100 major companies from late February to mid-March. Of them, 75 outlined their recruitment plans.

According to the survey, 39 companies have no plans to change the number of new recruits from the previous year, 24 intend to hire more and 12 expect reductions.

Construction and logistics companies are especially eager to increase hiring, while some securities firms plan to decrease their number of new recruits.

General contractor Taisei Corp., which cut recruitment for years after the bubble economy collapsed in the early 1990s, plans to employ 316 newcomers in spring 2020, up some 20 percent from this year.

Fast Retailing Co., which runs the Uniqlo casual clothing chain, will hire 650 to strengthen operations at home and abroad.

Meanwhile, rehabilitating Toshiba Corp. will reduce its number by 36 percent to 350.

Amid increasing uncertainties over the course of the global economy, Nomura Holdings Inc. and Daiwa Securities Group Inc. plan to hire fewer graduates.

The survey also found that 10 companies failed to secure the planned number of new recruits for 2019, twice the previous year’s result.

Expecting difficulties securing the planned number of newcomers in spring 2020, Mazda Motor Corp. will increase the number of recruiters amid intensifying competition for talent.

The hiring guidelines by Keidanren, the nation’s largest business lobby, are to be abolished with the spring 2020 hiring wave. New guidelines, led by the government, are under consideration.