Reevaluating the Connection between High Schools and the Labor Market in Japan: Limits and Reorganization
Reevaluating the Connection between High Schools and the Labor Market in Japan: Limits and Reorganization
Monday, 7 July 2025: 15:45
Location: ASJE014 (Annex of the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences)
Oral Presentation
The system for recruiting high school graduates in Japan has long provided a stable labor supply, particularly since the post-war period of economic growth. This recruitment system is based on the concepts of “employment through schools” and “institutional linkage” between schools and companies, with schools playing an active role in matching students with employers. However, in practice, schools often focus on simply securing job placements and sending students off, without offering significant post-placement support.
In the 1980s, 40% of 18-year-olds entered the workforce directly after graduating from high school, but today, that figure has dropped below 20%. High schools with a high proportion of students entering employment are now positioned at the bottom of Japan’s hierarchical high school system. Many of these students face complex socio-economic, cognitive, and developmental challenges, requiring substantial post-employment support. However, schools and public institutions often lack the authority and resources needed to provide such support. This situation highlights the need to reconsider whether the employment of graduates from low-achieving high schools can still be adequately explained by the conventional model of selection and allocation.
This paper investigates collaborative efforts with local communities to support student employment at two public high schools in Osaka that are facing these challenges. The study has two main objectives. First, it aims to identify the challenges encountered by high school graduates during their first year of employment. Second, it examines the involvement of various actors in the regional labor market—schools, students, labor-demanding companies and organizations, intermediaries, and the local community—in the employment process. Based on these findings, the paper proposes a new recruitment model for high school graduates. This model emphasizes the active participation of multiple actors and aims to secure sustainable employment through the discovery and exchange of the unique assets each stakeholder offers.
In the 1980s, 40% of 18-year-olds entered the workforce directly after graduating from high school, but today, that figure has dropped below 20%. High schools with a high proportion of students entering employment are now positioned at the bottom of Japan’s hierarchical high school system. Many of these students face complex socio-economic, cognitive, and developmental challenges, requiring substantial post-employment support. However, schools and public institutions often lack the authority and resources needed to provide such support. This situation highlights the need to reconsider whether the employment of graduates from low-achieving high schools can still be adequately explained by the conventional model of selection and allocation.
This paper investigates collaborative efforts with local communities to support student employment at two public high schools in Osaka that are facing these challenges. The study has two main objectives. First, it aims to identify the challenges encountered by high school graduates during their first year of employment. Second, it examines the involvement of various actors in the regional labor market—schools, students, labor-demanding companies and organizations, intermediaries, and the local community—in the employment process. Based on these findings, the paper proposes a new recruitment model for high school graduates. This model emphasizes the active participation of multiple actors and aims to secure sustainable employment through the discovery and exchange of the unique assets each stakeholder offers.