Changes in Graduates’ Employment

Abstract

　 The purpose of this paper is to clarify statistically recent changes in university graduates’ employment. The viewpoints underlying the analysis are:

　 a. Using figures for graduates at the time of graduation, the employment rate as regular （full-time and permanent） employees

　 b. the unemployment rate and the employment rate as non-regular （part-time or temporary contract） employees aged 25 to 34

　 c. the size of employing companies, type of occupations, and wages as indexes of social prestige.

　 d. the resignation rate within 3 years after graduation, and the situation after resignation.

　 The results of the analysis are as follows. In comparison with high-school graduates, a smaller proportion of university graduates were employed as non-regular contract workers, while a larger proportion were employed in large-scale enterprises. The gap between academic backgrounds was seen to be expanding over the period of analysis. On the other hand, the employment situation of university graduates showed increasing diversification; 20% of male graduates proceeded to blue-collar jobs, and the remuneration of university graduates was spread over an increasingly wide range. It is also pointed out that the number of female university-graduate employees is increasing substantially.

　 On the basis of those changes, the analysis points out the issues to which universities should give special consideration. The first is that of what kind of device is appropriate for sharing with （industrial） society recognition of the knowledge and skills that need to be cultivated, and the second is that of the career development of female graduates.