EXCLUSIVE: Job exam applicants at Japan’s 47 prefectures down for 8 years in row

June 23, 2019

Tokyo--The number of people, mainly university and graduate school students graduating next spring, who applied to take recruitment exams for civil service jobs at Japan's 47 prefectures starting in fiscal 2020 fell 10.8 pct from the previous year to 53,369, down for the eighth straight year, a Jiji Press survey has revealed.

Applicants decreased in 39 prefectures. The disappointing results were apparently affected by private-sector companies' continued moves to actively hire new recruits.

The decrease was the largest in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, at 37.2 pct, followed by the western prefecture of Tokushima, at 29.0 pct, and the central prefecture of Gifu, at 25.8 pct.

Some prefectural government officials noted that the number of applications from students who had considered taking both public- and private-sector job exams decreased as private firms are moving up granting informal job offers to students. Others pointed out that competition for new graduates is intensifying among local governments.

Meanwhile, some prefectures set up special job quotas for administrative posts to attract new graduates.

Tochigi Prefecture in eastern Japan established a quota for which no special exam for legal and economic knowledge is conducted, and started selection procedures earlier than usual, in April. As a result, the number of applicants surged 69.2 pct to 2,039.

The western prefecture of Okayama saw the number of applicants rise 44.0 pct to 1,100, after introducing a quota using a private-sector aptitude test.

Some prefectures revamped their recruitment exams to increase applicants for technical jobs for which manpower shortages are serious.

The northeastern prefecture of Miyagi scrapped a relevant special exam, while Fukushima Prefecture, also in northeastern Japan, simplified its general knowledge test partly by reducing the number of questions.

The northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido decided to conduct an exam for forestry division jobs twice a year, up from once.

Among other efforts to attract applicants, six central Japan prefectures--Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Gifu, Aichi and Mie--held a joint seminar to inform students of the appeal of civil service jobs. A total of some 130 people attended the event.

Okayama Prefecture and the city of Okayama, the capital of the prefecture, held a similar joint session. Jiji Press