Companies launched their recruitment activities for spring 2021 university graduates on Monday.
While online job interviews are becoming widespread due to the coronavirus epidemic, hiring schedules at many companies have been affected by the temporary suspension of recruitment activities, among other reasons.
A Seven-Eleven Japan Co. recruiter was speaking to a student using a video-communication app on a tablet device at the company's headquarters in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Monday: "Are you taking university classes online?"
Wearing a suit, the student enthusiastically spoke about his motivation for applying to the company, among other things.
"Conducting job interviews online has been a smooth process," said the general manager of the Human Resources Department.
Recruitment firm Disco Inc. conducted a survey in late May and found that nearly 80% of about 1,100 major companies are conducting recruitment activities online.
Toyota Motor Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Kirin Holdings Co., among others, plan to conduct all job interviews online, including the final round of interviews.
Companies can expect applications from a wider range of students as online hiring procedures make it easier for students in regional areas or overseas to apply.
Currently, online recruitment activities are being conducted mainly by large companies, but "will spread to small and midsize companies in regional areas going forward," according to the editor-in-chief of information services company Mynavi Corp.
However, such issues as difficulties understanding the personality of applicants or a company's corporate culture have been raised with regard to online recruitment activities.
Following the lifting of the nationwide state of emergency, a major distribution company said that it wants to combine face-to-face job interviews and online recruiting.
From this year, the government has been responsible for rules on the recruitment and employment of new graduates, as The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) decided to abolish its guidelines regarding corporate recruitment activities, including schedules.
To avoid confusion, the government maintained the schedules stipulated in past Keidanren guidelines, which allow companies to hold job briefing sessions for third-year students from March 1, to start the selection process for fourth-year students from June 1 and to give unofficial job offers from October 1.
In reality, some companies start recruitment activities before the allowed date and effectively give unofficial job offers. However, this year, many companies suspended recruitment activities due to the coronavirus epidemic, and the ratio of students who have received unofficial job offers remains low.
According to a survey conducted by Recruit Career Co., the ratio was 31.3% as of April 1, exceeding that of last year, while as of May 1, the ratio stood at 45.7%, 5.7 percentage points down from a year earlier.
A 21-year-old student in her final year at a private university in the Tohoku region said her first-choice company postponed the job interview schedule from April to July.
"Because briefing sessions were canceled due to the coronavirus, job-hunting hasn't been smooth. I'm a bit worried," she said.
Small and midsize companies tend to start their recruitment activities after large companies.
"The stalled recruitment activities of large companies will have an impact going forward," Akio Mimura, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.
According to Disco, nearly 70% of major companies said that they will recruit new graduates as planned, suggesting there continues to be a strong appetite for hiring among companies that are struggling with a shortage of staff or those that are seeking to maintain a balance of new recruits.
However, Japan Airlines and ANA Group have suspended their recruitment activities due to sharp declines in business performance.
The impact on recruitment will likely vary, depending on the industry.
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