Japanese companies started job seminars on Saturday for university students graduating in spring 2026.
Companies have been racing to secure talent amid serious labor shortages by taking steps including raising starting salaries.
Some 160 companies took part in a joint job fair organized by job information provider Mynavi at the Makuhari Messe convention center in the city of Chiba, near Tokyo, on Saturday.
"I want to find a publisher focusing on digital and new businesses," said a third grader at Seitoku University, who attended the event.
A third grader at Nihon University who has already received informal job offers from three companies said, "I will continue job-hunting activities so that I can join a well-known company that is more stable."
A survey conducted on 1,820 companies by Mynavi between January and February showed that 78.1% said that they think they would face increasing difficulty in securing workers.
The survey found that 54.1% said they would raise their starting salaries for university students graduating in 2026, up 6.9 percentage points from the previous year.
"Companies' approach has greatly shifted from selecting from hundreds of students to providing information to motivate several tens of students they have contact with," said Makoto Takahashi, chief editor of the Mynavi website.
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