A Lull in Hiring Demand and Stricter Hiring Standards in Recruitment Services
First written in FY2024-Q2. 4 of 8 entries say "Worsened", first in FY2025. Latest entry: 2026-07-31.
Career Design Center moved to the "Worse" side of this theme in 2024.
0 other companies' latest entry also says "Worsened".
- FY2026-H1WorsenedAnnual report
「During the interim accounting period, while stricter hiring standards continued, the general segment worked to improve the accuracy of matching between job seekers and job openings. Although the placement rate showed signs of improvement, the number of placements declined.」
Hiring standards remained strict, and although placement rates showed signs of improvement in the general segment, the number of placements concluded declined. Revenue from the recruitment placement business fell 3.2% year on year, and the challenging recruitment environment continues. - FY2025WorsenedAnnual report
「During the fiscal year, in the general segment, the company expanded efforts to develop new customer opportunities, attract registrations from job seekers, particularly IT engineers, and increase the number of contact points, including interviews, and implemented measures to improve conversion rates. However, amid uncertainty in the external environment, hiring companies took a cautious approach to recruitment, and the final interview pass rate fell below expectations, slowing growth in the number of placements.」
In addition to stricter hiring standards, greater caution in recruitment due to uncertainty in the external environment and a lower-than-expected pass rate at final interviews became apparent during the full year, resulting in a 3.9% year-on-year decline in revenue from the recruitment placement business. - FY2024MaterialisedAnnual report
「During the fiscal year, our performance fell substantially short of the initial forecast because hiring standards at companies that continued recruiting became even more stringent in the recruitment services business, which has a high recruitment fee per placement. This reduced the offer acceptance rate and slowed growth in the number of concluded placements.」
The moderation in recruitment demand and stricter hiring standards materialised during the full year. Through a decline in offer rates and slower growth in the number of placements concluded, they resulted in lower revenue from the recruitment placement business and failure to meet the company's full-year earnings forecast. - FY2024-Q2First statedAnnual report
「However, in the recruitment placement business, where the cost per hire is high, the rapid increase in recruitment demand during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in the previous fiscal year led to hiring being filled at client companies, and demand began to moderate. Among companies that continued recruiting, hiring standards became stricter and the offer rate declined. These changes in the recruitment environment, which exceeded the assumptions at the beginning of the period, slowed the growth in the number of placements concluded.」
The company stated that, in the recruitment placement business, demand moderated at client companies whose hiring needs had been filled during the recovery phase, while companies continuing to recruit tightened their hiring standards and experienced a decline in offer rates, resulting in slower growth in placements concluded and failure to meet the first-half earnings forecast.