Times tough for rural students / Recession forcing companies to cut high school recruiting
Written by Meenaa on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
Times tough for rural students / Recession forcing companies to cut high school recruiting
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Many companies are cutting their new recruit numbers as a result of the recession that has stemmed from the global financial crisis. Students graduating from provincial high schools are feeling the brunt of these cutbacks.
In October, a female student at Aomori Prefectural Goshogawara Agricultural High School sent an application to a clothing plant in the area that had sent her school information about job openings.
In response to her application, the factory sent the school a short note that said: “Our parent company in Tokyo told us not to recruit new employees because the company is having a difficult time increasing production. We have no choice but to give up recruiting.”
In mid-October, the student’s homeroom teacher told her she would not be able to take the employment exam for the clothing plant.
After finishing high school, the student was hoping to find work at a company she could commute to from her family’s home.
There are few vocational schools or universities in Aomori Prefecture. She worries that if she were to study outside the prefecture, the financial burden would be too heavy for her parents. She also is worried about living on her own if she were to get a job outside the prefecture.
Unable to overcome these fears, she applied for a job and took an exam to gain employment at a nearby supermarket. She is awaiting the result of her exam.
The acceptance of high school graduates by companies has gradually been improving over the past few years due to the mass retirement of baby boomers.
However, unlike in metropolitan areas, the number of job offers in provincial areas remains low.
As of July, the ratio of job offers to applicants for those who are expected to graduate from high school next spring was 1.97 in the three major metropolitan areas and 0.73 in the remaining areas.
The financial crisis has affected the rural employment situation since September. Many companies have withdrawn employment offers from job-placement offices in Hokkaido, and Yamagata and Yamaguchi prefectures. Some other firms have reduced their new recruit numbers from the previous year’s quota.
For those who could not find a job after graduation, Goshogawara Agricultural High School used to help them find jobs offered by temporary staffing agencies. This year, however, no such offers are available.
Yasuo Mizushima, the school’s head career counselor, is worried about the situation.
===
Students’ futures in doubt
A third-year Tottori Prefecture private female high school student also is concerned about her future after graduation.
“I may not be able to find a job,” she said. “If I can’t, I’ll work part-time.”
She does not know if the economic slowdown has any connection with her difficulty finding a job.
The student said she is envious of an older student who told her how easy it was to get a job when the economy was posting healthy growth.
In September, a female student at a public high school in Miyagi Prefecture took a recruitment exam, hoping to get a clerical job at a Sendai company.
A dozen applicants applied for two job vacancies at the firm, and she was not selected for the job.
Employment offers at her high school became scarce in October after stock prices began to slip.
Of nearly 90 students who hoped to work after graduation, only 40 secured jobs.
The head career guidance counselor at the school said: “Students who will graduate next spring are very motivated because they’re so worried about finding a job. I wish I could help them, but I can’t do anything for them if companies don’t provide [the school] with job opening information.”
(Nov. 19, 2008)
