Many Japan Firms Use One-Day Internships to Secure New Grads

June 7, 2018

Tokyo- An increasing number of Japanese companies are introducing one-day internship programs for job-hunting university students, in a bid to secure new graduates in an employment market favorable to students amid labor shortages in the country.

The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, the nation's biggest business lobby, has scrapped the five-day minimum length requirement for its member companies' internship programs for students graduating in spring 2019 and later.

According to job information provider Mynavi Corp., 75.2 pct of companies in Japan, including small firms, have accepted students under one-day internship programs.

Keidanren's related guidelines allow member companies to offer job seminars for students from March 1 and hold interviews with them from June 1. But the rule is believed to be a dead letter.

As of the beginning of May this year, 42.7 pct of job-seeking university students had secured informal work contracts, a survey by job information and staffing service firm Recruit Career Co. showed. Many of the informal offers are believed to have been from companies that are not members of Keidanren.

Internships are meant for students to gain work experience, but one-day internship programs are said to be the same thing as job seminars and linked to selection processes.

"Work experience programs in name only create unnecessary confusion and burdens for students," an official of the Japan Association of Private Universities and Colleges said.

Accepting students under internship programs that are similar in nature to job seminars or selection processes before the job seminar and interview starting days runs counter to the Keidanren guidelines, the official said. The association comprises 124 private universities and colleges in Japan.

Meanwhile, an official of a nonlife insurer with a one-day internship program said, "We increased opportunities for students to better understand our jobs so that mismatches do not occur after hiring."

The company's one-day internship program "has nothing to do with" its graduate selection process, the official said.

A major job information website last week started accepting applications for internship programs by students graduating in spring 2020.

Japanese firms may accelerate their moves further to secure new graduates by taking advantage of one-day internships or other measures, as the job market is expected to continue to be favorable to students, pundits said. Jiji Press