Companies welcome prospective recruits

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:59 JST, October 1, 2022

Companies have started holding welcome ceremonies for university students who have received informal job offers for positions starting in spring next year.

More companies are expected to hold in-person ceremonies this year, but some will also organize online events.

Kirin Holdings Co. held its first in-person ceremony in two years at offices in Tokyo and Osaka on Saturday.

The attendees, who were given the choice of participating in person or online, wore T-shirts with Kirin’s logo instead of suits, creating a relaxed atmosphere.

The students were divided into groups to introduce themselves and discuss their goals at the company.

“I’m happy I was able to meet my [future] colleagues in person,” a 22-year-old student said. “The fact that I’ll start working in spring has really sunk in.”

Even though the government has asked companies to wait until Oct. 1 to make informal job offers, 90.8% of university students had received offers as of Sept. 1, up 0.8 percentage points from a year earlier, according to a Recruit Co. survey.