Declining college student population… Competition for job openings intensifies
There is an increasing number of cases where Japanese companies, which are suffering from a hiring shortage, are asking for permission from parents first during the hiring process of new employees.
According to local media NHK on the 26th, the process of asking Japanese companies for permission from the parents of prospective employees during the hiring process of new college graduates is rapidly spreading.
When making a job offer to an applicant, prior permission is asked from the mother or father, asking, “Can I hire your child?”
In Japan, a new word has even appeared to express this. ‘Oyakaku’ is a combination of ‘oya’ meaning ‘parent’ and ‘gaku’ meaning ‘confirmation’. There are various methods of ‘oyagaku’, such as agreeing over the phone or leaving a guardian’s signature on a document such as an employment pledge.
Last month, the Japanese employment information site ‘MyNavi’ surveyed 851 parents of Japanese college and graduate students who are about to be employed in January 2024, and 52% responded that they had received a call from a company where their child was accepted, asking for permission to hire them. It is reported that this figure is about 35% higher than six years ago.
In a survey asking who to consult when choosing a company, 61.9% of respondents responded that they consulted with their parents. Accordingly, a researcher at ‘My Navi’ said, “The college student population has decreased due to the low birth rate and aging population, and competition for job openings has become more intense.” He added, “The number of companies working in Oyakaku will continue to increase in the future.”
Another talent consulting company analyzed, “Amid the hiring crisis, an increasing number of companies are providing information to parents and obtaining their consent in advance to prevent candidates from resigning after hiring.”
However, there were also job seekers who were embarrassed by this. One job seeker said she didn’t think her parents’ wishes mattered because “she was looking for a job based on what she wanted to do.” “When the company called her parents, she was a little embarrassed because she didn’t know the company’s intentions,” she said in an interview.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.