In a conference room at K.K. Ashisuto, a Tokyo-based software vendor, a company representative made a passionate sales pitch to prospective employees. 

"While there is some overtime, we make sure to take our days off, making time for our families."

That was music to the ears of the 17 young people in attendance, along with 26 of their parents.

This was the first time that the software company had organized a seminar for prospective employees accompanied by their parents, which was held on Dec. 15.

Shuma Sasaki, a 22-year-old university student from Fukuoka Prefecture, participated along with his parents.

His father, a 50-year-old civil servant, said, "The office is clean and the employees are very polite. I’m proud of my son (who received a job offer from the company)."

"I wasn’t sure what specific challenges you’d face at a tech firm, but I understood that they value people here,” said the mother of a 24-year-old prospective employee. “It was her decision, and I hope she finds success."

Companies are introducing new recruiting tools to prevent candidates from rejecting job offers and battle the problem of early employee turnover.

In the current tight labor market for new graduates, students have the upper hand. 

The new company initiative includes holding seminars for the parents of prospective employees and confirming with the parents that they support their children’s decision to join the company.

One reason for this trend is that the first generation that experienced modern job hunting has become parents and is now actively involved in their children's career paths.

At the K.K. Ashisuto seminar, the 17 people who attended will graduate from their universities and start working at the company this spring.

The orientation lasted three and a half hours, beginning with a greeting from the company president, followed by a discussion with employees, a tour of the office, and a social gathering with food and drinks.

The event was also held in Osaka and Nagoya, with the company subsidizing transportation and accommodation costs for attendees.

The idea for this seminar emerged two years ago, following the unexpected decline of a job offer by a prospective employee.

The prospective hire wanted to join Ashisuto, but the person’s parents were opposed, according to Masahiro Hayashi, a corporate officer. That person eventually chose a major infrastructure company, which also made a job offer to the candidate.

“We need to do more to let the parents know (more about us),” said Hayashi.

Although many executives were skeptical, saying, "Parents will never come," 45 percent of the prospective employees participated with their parents.

'IT'S A SELLER'S MARKET'

An increasing number of companies are inviting the parents of prospective employees for such orientation sessions, according to Mynavi Corp., an operator of recruitment websites.

There is also a growing trend of employers confirming whether the parents of prospective employees approve of their children’s decisions to join the companies.

More than half, or 52.4 percent, of the parents of prospective employees were approached by companies for such confirmation, a significant increase from the 17.7 percent in 2018, according to a Mynavi survey with 1,000 respondents conducted in fiscal 2023.

"In a seller's market where the number of university students is decreasing, companies are engaged in a heated battle to attract students,” said Yosuke Hasegawa, a researcher at Mynavi Career Research Lab. “In a desperate attempt to prevent reneging on job offers and early turnover, potential employers are trying to reassure parents, offering them a clearer insight into career paths and company culture."

More than 30 percent of companies with at least 1,000 employees are planning to hire more new graduates in 2025, driven by personnel expansion as the economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by recruitment agency Disco Inc.

JOINT JOB SEARCH BENEFITS ALL

Students and their parents have their reasons for joining together in the job hunt. 

In a Mynavi survey, 71.3 percent of parents said that they were interested in their children's job search.

The most common support requested by their children was proofreading completed application forms for companies, with 18 percent of parents providing this assistance. Some parents, 11.9 percent, even wrote application forms for their children.

A 21-year old junior at Keio University has her 50-year-old mother check her application forms.

Her mother, a sales representative for a trading company, did her own job search as a new graduate in the 1990s, when the current form of corporate recruitment became common.

“I count on her,” the student said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the student was forced to forgo a summer volunteer trip to Thailand. Her mother advised her to include the canceled trip in a short essay in her application forms.

“I thought it was not worth discussing but my mother said what matters is the process: what inspired me to undertake the trip and how I prepared for it,” she said. “That made sense.”

But one expert said parents' concern for their child's success might not be their only motive. 

"If a child fails to find a job and cannot become financially independent, the burden on the parents will continue,” said Michiko Nishino, professor of family sociology at Tokyo’s Toyo University. “With pensions also decreasing, parents want to reduce the risk."

She also highlighted parents’ concerns about their children being victimized by exploitative companies and toxic workplaces.

"There is also a possibility that such abusive companies will take advantage of parental consent,” Nishino warned. “When an employee finds the workplace too stressful, the company could justify it by saying, 'We explained it to your parents, didn't we?' Such a justification must be prevented."

(This article was written by Eiichiro Nakamura and Natsuki Edogawa.)