A survey of 1,551 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market examined whether they had recruitment-only Instagram accounts and when those accounts were launched. The results showed that 323 companies had recruitment-only accounts, with more than half launched in 2023 or later.
This survey examined social media links on recruitment websites and the existence of recruitment-only Instagram accounts among companies listed on the Prime Market. A total of 323 companies, or 20.8% of the total, had recruitment-only accounts. More companies are operating recruitment-only accounts separately from their conventional corporate communications accounts. Accounts launched in 2023 or later accounted for 51.9% of the total, rising to 64.5% when accounts launched from 2022 onward are included.
According to a brief commentary, students seeking jobs tend to look for company information on Instagram, and short-form videos are expected to be effective for conveying workplace culture. The use of YouTube Shorts is also expanding and may be becoming particularly important for mid-career recruitment. Among the social media platforms listed on recruitment websites, YouTube led with 394 companies, followed by Instagram with 388 and X with 364. Whether a company has a recruitment-only account is a major factor contributing to these differences.
The pace at which recruitment-only Instagram accounts have been launched has accelerated rapidly in recent years, with accounts launched in 2023 or later accounting for 51.9% of the 318 accounts. The median number of followers for recruitment-only accounts was 373, while the median engagement rate was 3.13%. In addition, the median number of followers was 116 for the 61 companies whose accounts were launched in 2025 or later and remained active, compared with 678 for companies that continued posting at least 8 times per month, suggesting a relationship between posting volume and follower numbers.
Of the 323 companies without links from their recruitment websites to social media, 139 (43.0%) did not direct visitors from their recruitment websites to external social media. One proposed measure to address this issue is to add a feature to the company website that continuously plays vertical short-form videos. Large companies are also moving ahead with such initiatives, and early adoption may be feasible against the backdrop of rising costs to build a pool of recruitment candidates.
The survey covered 1,551 companies listed on the Prime Market. Recruitment-only accounts included cases covering both new graduate and mid-career recruitment. The calculations for engagement rate, posting frequency and graduation year were based on posts from the most recent three months. The findings were supported by a survey report from And Booster and an article published by Nihon no Jinjibu.