2 in 5 Employers see low retention rates for midcareer hires

May 7, 2019

Tokyo--A private-sector survey found that close to 40 pct of employers feel they have low retention rates for regular employees hired in the middle of their careers.

The survey was conducted online by recruitment agency En-Japan Inc. <4849> between late January and late February on companies that have hired midcareer employees over the past three years. Valid responses were received from 693 companies.

Of the respondents, 6.9 pct said that their retention rates for midcareer employees were "very low" and 29.8 pct answered "low." On the other hand, the ratios of respondents answering "high" and "very high" were 21.6 pct and 10.4 pct, respectively, with the combined proportion exceeding 30 pct.

Companies that said midcareer hires were likely to quit between six months and a year after being hired accounted for 19.2 pct, while 5.8 pct said such employees tend to leave their companies in less than a month. One in three firms picked less than six months as duration of employment prone to quitting.

The percentage of respondent companies saying they plan to actively work on retaining midcareer hires stood at 62.5 pct, while 20.4 pct said that they will do so for some of their employees.

When asked to give reasons for working on raising the retention rates for midcareer hires, with multiple answers allowed, 70.6 pct said they do not want to let go of personnel trained by them, 59.5 pct cited difficulties in recruiting new employees and 46.8 pct said they want to avoid lowering workplace morale.

Observers say retaining midcareer hires is crucial for many companies, especially in the midst of severe labor shortages in Japan. Jiji Press