22% OF JAPAN FIRMS EYE FEWER HIRES NEXT YEAR

Some 22 percent of major companies in Japan are planning to cut new hires for the business year starting next April from the current year, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday, indicating many firms remain cautious about the outlook amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In the survey covering 110 firms, many of those planning to curb new hires were in sectors hit hard by the pandemic such as transport and tourism, which saw demand evaporate. Helped by a recovery in the US and Chinese economies, manufacturers, meanwhile, expect to hire more new graduates, citing business expansion plans, Kyodo reported.

Major Japanese companies recruit new graduates at the start of each fiscal year, often beginning the hiring process roughly a year in advance.

According to the Kyodo survey, a total of 24 firms in sectors ranging from materials to energy are scaling back hiring for fiscal 2022. Thirty-seven firms, or 34 percent, said they will maintain the same levels as fiscal 2021.

Only 19 companies, or 17 percent, are seeking to increase new hires, and 25, or 23 percent, are undecided.

Some of the firms making no change to their plans for fiscal 2022 drastically cut new hires for fiscal 2021 through next March. For fiscal 2021, about 46 percent reduced new hires from the previous year while 12 percent increased hiring.

Some 37 percent stuck to levels close to hiring for fiscal 2020, the survey showed. Kyodo News carried out the survey between early March and mid-April. The 110 respondents include Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Sony Group Corp., Japan Airlines Co., Nintendo Co., and Mizuho Financial Group Inc.

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