Turnover Among 2023 Graduates Within Three Years of Employment

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare compiled and published data on job separations among new graduates who graduated in March 2023. The release reports separation rates within three years of employment and year-on-year changes for new high school and university graduates.

Separation rates by education level were 54.5% for middle school graduates (up 0.4 percentage points year on year), 36.9% for high school graduates (down 1.0 percentage point), 43.1% for junior college graduates and others (down 1.4 percentage points), and 31.2% for university graduates (down 2.6 percentage points). The rates for high school and university graduates also appear in the release subtitle.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare says it will continue workplace retention support for new graduates and tailored job placement assistance for people who have left jobs through New Graduate Hello Work offices and other services.

For high school and university graduates, separation rates by establishment size were 61.3% and 58.2% for fewer than 5 employees; 53.3% and 50.6% for 5–29; 45.5% and 39.7% for 30–99; 36.4% and 31.7% for 100–499; 29.4% and 29.0% for 500–999; and 24.4% and 24.2% for 1,000 or more. Within each pair, the first figure is for high school graduates and the second for university graduates. Year-on-year changes follow the same order: for fewer than 5 employees, down 1.9 and up 0.7 percentage points; for 5–29, down 1.3 and 1.4; for 30–99, up 0.3 and down 2.2; for 100–499, down 0.3 and 2.2; for 500–999, down 0.5 and 2.5; and for 1,000 or more, down 1.9 and 2.8 percentage points.

Excluding “Other,” the five industries with the highest separation rates were, for high school graduates: accommodation and food services, 61.6% (down 3.1 percentage points); living-related and personal services and amusement services, 61.1% (down 0.4); medical care and welfare, 49.4% (up 0.2); education and learning support, 49.3% (down 4.3); and retail, 48.5% (up 0.2). For university graduates, the figures were: accommodation and food services, 49.9% (down 5.5 percentage points); living-related and personal services and amusement services, 49.8% (down 4.9); education and learning support, 42.3% (down 1.9); medical care and welfare, 39.1% (down 1.7); and retail, 38.1% (down 2.3). Figures in parentheses are year-on-year changes in percentage points.

Readers are directed to “Separation Status of New Graduates” for data on separations within three years by establishment size and industry. The materials include trends by education level; separation status for new high school and university graduates; employment rates and separation rates within three years for new graduates; source information; and the methodology used to calculate separation rates.