Record low 68.8% graduating university students find jobs+

TOKYO, Jan. 18 Kyodo - Only 68.8 percent of university students had found jobs as of Dec. 1 before their graduation this March, down 4.3 percentage points from a year earlier and the lowest level since 1996, when comparable data became available, a government survey showed Tuesday.

It is the first time that the percentage, compiled in an annual survey, sank
below the 70 percent line at this stage of polling.
For graduating junior college students, the corresponding percentage stood at
45.3 percent, also a record low and down 2.1 points, according to the poll by
the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology Ministry.
Among high school students, the percentage came to 70.6 percent as of Nov. 30,
up 2.5 points from the year before. The ratio of job openings to job-seeking
high school students was 1.03, down 0.02 point.
The results of a tally showed there were about 174,000 job openings for
graduating high school students, down 0.8 percent, against around 168,000
seekers, up 0.6 percent.
Among junior high school students, the ratio of openings to seekers was 0.41,
up 0.02 point.
The ministries picked 62 four-year universities, both public and private, and
20 two-year junior colleges nationwide to check job offer conditions for
graduating students.
The survey showed that 70.1 percent of male students had gotten job offers,
down 2.9 points, against 67.4 percent for female students, down 5.8 points.
Among students at state- and local government-run universities, 76.7 percent
had received job offers, down 4.0 points, while a record low 66.3 percent at
private ones had found jobs, down 4.2 points.
Job offers to science and engineering students fell by the largest margin ever,
down 7.3 points to 71.3 percent, according to the survey. Among students
majoring in liberal arts, 68.3 percent had received job offers, down 3.7
points, also the biggest margin of drop.
An education ministry official said on the decline in employment offers for
science and engineering majors, ''Companies tend to favor students from
graduate school as work-ready graduates.''
In the face of the tough employment situation, the labor ministry on Tuesday
announced temporary measures to help graduating high school and university
students find jobs promptly, featuring subsidies to be paid to companies that
decide to employ them during the two-month period through the end of March.
In addition, the labor and education ministries will increase subsidies to
business operators that decide to hire graduates within three years of their
graduation, as well as organize more job fairs bringing together students and
companies, particularly small and midsize ones, nationwide.
The two ministries will also encourage parents of graduating students who have
not found jobs to take advantage of job introduction services at public job
assistance centers.
It has been pointed out that while there are small and midsize companies that
are little known but aggressive in employing, graduating students tend to favor
big, high-profile corporations.
==Kyodo