Recently, the Japanese Personnel Agency announced the successful candidates for the national civil service comprehensive post examination implemented in the spring of 2023. The number of qualified persons is 2027, and the qualified ratio is 7.1 times. The number of graduates from the University of Tokyo was 193, the lowest in history. It has halved in almost 10 years and dropped below 200 for the first time.
The comprehensive post is a reserve cadre of the Central Ministry of Japan, known as “elite officials”. Those who pass the exam will be able to visit the official hall from June 12. Starting in late June, an “internal confirmation” will be issued, and the job will be officially hired in the spring of 2024.
The pass ratio of the general position test decreased from 8.2 times in the spring of 2022. The number of female applicants reached a record high of 683, an increase of 110 from the spring of 2022.
The number of science and engineering graduates increased. About 140 more than in 2022. Kasumigaseki (the seat of Japan’s central government) is also increasingly willing to hire digital talent.
In terms of universities of origin, second only to the University of Tokyo are Kyoto University (118) and Hokkaido University (97). Six people from five foreign universities qualified. Graduates from the University of Tokyo accounted for 26 percent of those who passed the 2015 spring examination. In 2023, that number drops to 9.5 percent.
Ten years ago, 438 qualified. The number of applicants for the general post examination has dropped by about 30% in the past 10 years, and the drop is even greater among the University of Tokyo.
Japan’s central ministries continue to lose their appeal as employers. Kasumigaseki is also known by students as a “black workplace” because of its long working hours and much ‘voluntary overtime’.
The Japanese Personnel Agency conducted an awareness survey for students in 2021. As a reason for not choosing a public servant, 76 percent of the respondents said, it is difficult to study and prepare for the recruitment exam. Fifty-five percent of respondents said, “There is a lot of overtime and working late into the night and in the morning.”
Japan Personnel Management Agency from the 2023 spring examination, will be about two weeks earlier than in previous years. In parallel with the employment activities of private enterprises, it is easier for students to take exams.
Despite the agency’s desire to increase the number of applicants, the number of applicants for the comprehensive job examination was 14,372, the second-lowest level on record. Talent may have gone to private companies.
According to the statistics on the employment destination of graduates in March 2022 compiled by he University of Tokyo News Service, the largest number of undergraduates entered the Lotte Group with 25. Among graduate students, 44 went to Accenture, a large consulting firm.
Regarding the decrease in the number of qualified graduates from he University of Tokyo, the Personnel Agency said, the decrease in the number of qualified graduates from national universities, which used to send a large number of civil servants, also reflects the increase in the number of students leaving the civil service.
Hiroaki Inaki, a professor at Waseda University, said, this trend was expected, but it has been exacerbated by the lack of improvement in the way civil servants work and the decline in their authority.
Professor Inaki added, without reform, we cannot attract young and talented people. In order to maintain the country’s competitiveness, the entire Japanese government needs to solve the problem.”
Among private universities, some saw an increase in the number of qualified students. Those who graduated from private universities accounted for 31.3 percent of the eligible students, up 4.2 percentage points from 10 years ago.
For example, Ritsumeikan University has developed job-hunting measures specifically for the civil service exam. Lectures for Public Servants have been held since 1993.
The course is designed for students in their third year of college or higher. Since 2013, Ritsumeikan University has also opened courses for first and second year students to learn about the attractiveness of civil servants.
The number of graduates from the university who passed the general examination reached 78 this year. That has roughly tripled in 10 years.