At a career fair in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, high school teachers were put to work in a trial run for their graduating students. 

The school staff experienced plastering with a trowel and learning to use surveying equipment. In addition, personnel from a security firm told a teacher to don a 10-kilogram bulletproof vest and gave instructions in the use of a baton.

“You should aim at the enemy’s elbow or other joints with the baton,” said a company security guard. “Raise it as high as your ears.”

However, a security guard added, “I have never had to resort to using one on duty over the course of more than 10 years,” drawing laughter from the assembled educators.

Yuichi Yasuda from the public Shinjuku Yamabuki High School in Tokyo listened carefully to the directions.

“Once I tried it myself, I can tell my students better what this occupation is like,” said Yasuda.

ON-THE-JOB GUIDANCE

The career fair was organized in early February by Jinjibu Co., an employment support provider in Osaka's Chuo Ward, for senior high school job applicants.

The aim was to provide educators with a chance to see what working at the participating firms is like and help them advise their students.

Recruiters from 15 companies and teachers in charge of students’ post-graduation careers at 16 high schools turned out at the hall of an office building in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward.

An increasing number of businesses are recruiting high school graduates, with an eye toward embracing them as part of their steady workforces.

For example, Shinjuku Yamabuki High School saw a sharp increase in the number of job offers for its students graduating in 2023.

“Corporations have apparently started moving actively to secure human resources, although they had previously held back their recruitment during the coronavirus crisis,” Yasuda said.

RECORD-SETTING HIRING SEEN

The ratio of job openings to job seekers who graduated from high schools in March 2023 surpassed that for the late-1980s to the early-1990s asset-inflated economy, showing the figure hit a record high since the current form of statistic-keeping started in 1988.

Employers are expected to vie even more aggressively for new high school graduates in 2024.

Participating companies at the career fair in the capital were seemingly highly motivated to enlist high school graduates.

Food & Life Companies Ltd., the operator in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, of the popular conveyor-belt sushi chain Sushiro, embarked on its endeavor to lure high schoolers in earnest, starting with those who graduated in 2023.

“We had previously looked primarily for college graduates,” said Kiyohiro Wake, a chief in Food & Life’s human resources department. “We have broadened the scope of recruitment for procuring personnel while keeping in mind overseas expansion and the opening of more outlets.”

Takahiro Mamiya, president of 5A Company, a cleaning agency in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, recounted how the fair could help employers.

“We are grateful for this great opportunity as we have little expertise on the way to employ recent high school graduates, unlike their university counterparts,” Mamiya said.

To recruit college graduates, corporations have to wait until March to hold guidance sessions for applicants under the central government-mandated rules. The screening process for applicants starts in June.

Employers and universities do not need to work with public employment security offices, so students can reach out to the companies of their choosing.

On the other hand, specialized job offer forms for high schoolers should be submitted by companies to the public employment offices in June. They are then sent to schools in July and afterward.

School operators submit students’ applications to companies in September for them to advance to the hiring stage.

The recruiting system is marked not only by the involvement of high schools and public employment security offices but also other restrictions: students in almost all prefectures can apply exclusively for only a single company.

This type of mechanism has long been maintained despite the deep-rooted criticism that it can result in mismatches between employers and high schoolers.

Tamami Hoshino, a director at Jinjibu, said this framework had traditionally led to the difficulty of employers accepting high school graduates as new hires.

“The peculiar selection process for high schoolers made companies hesitant to start on their recruiting campaigns,” she said. “But employers in some industries are finding it increasingly difficult to hire college graduates, and the number of businesses struggling desperately to find high school applicants instead has been growing every year.”

According to the findings of a labor ministry survey as of September 2022, the ratio of job openings to job seekers from high schools has been on the rise, reaching a record high 3.29 for 2023 graduates.

Jinjibu expects the figure to increase further in 2024.

LOCAL STUDENTS, LOCAL WORKPLACES

What companies cite, aside from unexpected advantages, as a reason for their aggressive efforts to attract high school graduates on a continual basis is those applicants’ preference to work in their hometowns.

Takahashi Sauce, a seasoning maker and seller in Honjo near Saitama Prefecture’s border with Gunma Prefecture, employed high school graduates in 2017 but then began seeking college applicants the following year.

Two to three years later, the employer discovered that university graduates more often leave their companies due to such reasons as the workplace “being too far to commute to.”

Resuming its recruitment of high school graduates, Takahashi Sauce saw its employee retention rate improve.

“We would like our staff to work with us for a prolonged period of time,” said company President Akito Takahashi. “High school students are seemingly more suited for our company, as they want to stay and work in their hometowns more strongly.”

Of those workers, Ayaka Hashimoto, 24, a local high school graduate, finished her education and started working at Takahashi Sauce in 2017.

She commutes to her office from her family's home and works in the firm’s management support division as an accounting official. Hashimoto said none of the job-seeking classmates at her high school wanted to live away from their families.

Daniel Hayasaka, 19, who started working at Takahashi Sauce in 2022 and is involved in the production process, said he similarly decided to be part of the company given “its easy access to my parents’ home.”

He stated that many of his former classmates wanted to find jobs near their family's residences as well. 

Takahashi Sauce is pouring more energy into finding high school job candidates than college applicants, which will continue to be maintained for some time.

Junichi Shigeno, head of the security department of the Tokyo headquarters of the security agency Corps Inc. in Nagoya, said his corporation has many workplaces across Japan, including commercial complexes, so it can arrange for high school graduates to work near their family homes.

“High school graduates are more likely to want to stay in their hometowns, and simply ensuring they can continue working in these local areas leads to their quitting less frequently,” said Shigeno.

Hiring less-educated workers has proven beneficial from an unexpected aspect as well.

Corps saw that the reports and other documents produced by on-site foremen have become noticeably easier to understand, likely because they must offer more detailed guidance for those less educated. 

Being able to embark on a professional career earlier is counted likewise among the merits of hiring high school graduates.

Triedge Co., a data marketing start-up with 11 employees in the capital’s Chuo Ward, has recently begun recruiting only high school students, since it “cannot be compared to large firms in terms of name recognition in the new recruit market.”

Aiko Ino, a Triedge official in charge of recruitment drives, quickly noticed the payoff from the switch.  

“No significant difference in abilities exists between high school graduates and their university counterparts immediately following their entries into our company,” she said. “High schoolers start working earlier and experience many tasks, which makes a major difference by the time they turn 22, the same age as typical college graduates.”

Ino said Triedge would have “no reason” to stop seeking high school graduates even after the company becomes widely known due to the advantages gained from its current recruitment efforts.