As artificial intelligence (AI) spreads and corporations rapidly automate their operations, Japanese corporations are also changing their entry-level hiring strategies. Instead of large-scale open recruiting, "small, elite hiring" that selects talent suited to specific roles and job-centric hiring are spreading.
According to Nikkei Business on the 9th, the more actively Japanese corporations introduce AI, the more clearly they tend to reduce the scale of entry-level hiring. According to talent services firm Acaric, about 90% of corporations promoting AI use at the organizational level have reviewed their entry-level hiring strategies, and about 60% have actually reduced their hiring scale.
Kitao Yoshitaka, chairman and president of Japanese financial group SBI Holdings, said at an event in March this year, "Going forward, drastically reducing the scale of hiring is an absolute policy," adding, "I instructed the HR department not to hire unless the candidate is exceptionally outstanding." Japan's largest refiner ENEOS, agricultural machinery maker Kubota, and dwellings and construction company Daiwa House Industry also plan to drastically reduce hiring for those graduating in 2027.
Japanese information technology (IT) corporation Fujitsu abolished the uniform entry-level mass hiring system starting with hires in 2026. Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Hiramatsu Hiroki explained this as "the final piece of the puzzle to complete the companywide transition to a job-based HR system." Fujitsu said that with AI advances, a substantial portion of work up to about the fifth year after joining could be automated, and that instead of simply hiring many people, it is focusing on securing talent with a clear sense of purpose and job expertise.
Use of AI in the hiring process is also becoming active. Drugstore chain Welcia Pharmacy introduced an AI interview system for the first-round interview starting with hiring for those graduating in 2027. The company said it can standardize evaluation criteria and reduce workload.
However, as AI use increases, unexpected side effects are appearing in hiring. As applicants also begin to use AI actively, application content is becoming uniform, and in online interviews, services have even emerged that propose answers in real time using AI. Because of this, corporations are considering reducing or abolishing document screening to verify applicants' actual capabilities, and strengthening in-person interviews, long-term internships, and video evaluations.
Among HR personnel, there is also growing consensus on the need to change hiring methods. In a joint survey by Nikkei Business and Recruit Management Solutions, more than 60% of 779 HR personnel responded that the current hiring methods need to be changed. About 40% of respondents also projected that if AI use becomes full-scale, the size of entry-level hiring will decrease from current levels.
Nikkei Business analyzed that AI is going beyond merely streamlining hiring tasks to changing corporations' hiring strategies themselves. As the old model of large-scale uniform entry-level hiring wavers, corporations are using AI to streamline the hiring process. It also assessed that they are redesigning hiring methods toward verifying applicants' capabilities and potential through in-person interviews and in-depth conversations.