The outlook for hiring fresh college graduates in Japan is on the upswing and returning to pre-pandemic levels, according to a survey from research giant Recruit Works Institute, part of Japanese staffing giant Recruit Holdings.

The job-to-applicants ratio for undergraduate and graduate students scheduled to graduate in March 2024 was 1.71, just 0.17 points below the pre-pandemic 2019 score of 1.88. In 2023 the jobs-to-applicant rate was 1.58, indicating that business confidence in new college graduates was still wavering.

Meanwhile, more students have expressed interest in working in the private sector. The number of students who want to work in the private sector went up from 449,000 to 451,000, or 0.5% year-on-year. However, according to the survey, the total number of job openings is 322,000, which is in excess demand compared to the number of people who want to work for private companies.

The total number of job openings in private companies nationwide increased by 66,000 from 707,000 in the previous year to 773,000, which is up by 9.3% year-on-year.