Tokyo has more than two job openings for every applicant

TOKYO (March 17): Graduate recruitment in Japan looks a bit like a scene from the movie "The Matrix." Hordes of students dressed in identical black suits and white shirts make the rounds of seminars, tests and interviews. Even as jobs outnumber applicants, these "Agent Smiths" still fight it out for coveted positions at big-name companies, while leaving smaller employers out in the cold.

"Popular firms in industries like finance have seven applicants for one job. For us, we have seven competitors going after one candidate," said Shuto Kuriyama, who works in human resources at regional furniture chain Shimachu Co. He was trying to attract students to the company’s presentation at a graduate recruitment fair in Chiba near Tokyo this month, while nearby booths for big-name firms were heaving with job seekers.

The low birth rate and slowly recovering economy are keeping Japan’s job-to-applicant ratio at a 25-year high, with the figure at 1.43 for January. In Tokyo, there are more than two jobs for every applicant. Small companies are the worst hit by the shortage of workers, but even some better-known employers are gradually changing their rigid hiring and employment practices -- and some are beginning to consider foreigners.

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