Companies nationwide held informal job offer ceremonies on Tuesday for college students set to begin work next spring.
Amid the ongoing "seller's market" that advantages students seeking work, companies are introducing a hiring system that limits where employees will be assigned in an effort to attract students who want to avoid job transfers.
About 230 students attended the informal job offer ceremony of leading security firm Secom Co. in Tokyo. Of them, 66 were offered positions under a quota called "general work position assigned in specified regions" that was launched this fiscal year. In principle, they will be assigned to work in the prefecture where they applied or a neighboring prefecture within commuting distance.
Akitaka Matsumoto, a 21-year-old university student in Hiroshima, applied to work in his native Ehime Prefecture.
"I want to stay close to my family and work in my beloved hometown. I didn't apply for jobs that could require me to relocate anywhere in the country," he said.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. held an informal job offer ceremony in Tokyo attended by about 50 people. In 2015, the company introduced a system to limit the locations where staff who sell medicine will be assigned to work. Every year, several new employees elect to work under this system, choosing their work locations from 30 prefectures nationwide. The system is designed to secure competent students who are reluctant to transfer across the nation.
"Sales is a job that is close to the community, and employees who are locally oriented tend to perform well," said a recruitment official at Takeda.
In August, job information company Disco Inc. asked students planning to graduate next spring why they chose their prospective company. Twenty percent said it was because the company allowed them to work where they wanted to.
In March last year, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry revised the guidelines of the Youth Employment Promotion Law to urge companies to introduce a system that allows employees to work in specific regions.
"With double-income families becoming more common, students see job transfers as an impediment to raising children and developing their careers," said Hosei University Prof. Emiko Takeishi, a specialist in career planning.
She noted that employees who work in a limited region may be treated differently from those who are transferred.
"Companies should establish a system that satisfies both parties," said Takeishi.
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