Japanese Companies Welcome New Employees

Tokyo, April 1 (Jiji Press)–Companies across Japan held entrance ceremonies for new employees Wednesday, the first day of the country’s new fiscal year, with fresh faces displaying enthusiasm despite global turmoil stemming from Middle East tensions and economic uncertainty at home. Some 110 new recruits took part in a ceremony held by major trading house Sumitomo Corp. at its headquarters in Tokyo, with President Shingo Ueno saying, “I want you to continue changing yourselves without relying on precedents.” At the ceremony, supervisors handed each of the new employees an ID card with a special message. Japanese speedskating star Miho Takagi, who retired after her last tournament in March, made a surprise appearance at the ceremony. “The way you use your time in difficulties will greatly change your life years later,” she told the new employees. At its ceremony held in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, NEC Corp. used its facial recognition technology to let in roughly 800 new employees, who passed in front of a large display panel equipped with the system. “I want to contribute to making familiar experiences exciting with the power of technology,” Haruto Kimura, 22, who joined the electronics manufacturer as a system engineer, said. Amid severe labor shortages, many companies are seeking talent by offering drastic pay hikes. Among them, electronics retailer Nojima Corp., which raised its monthly starting salary to a maximum of 400,000 yen, held its entrance ceremony at two locations in Yokohama, also in Kanagawa, to accommodate approximately 1,100 new workers, up threefold from a year earlier. Shoma Tanaka, 24, said that he is happy with the high pay but is also feeling pressure. “I want to stay focused (on my duties),” he said. An earthquake that struck southern Ibaraki Prefecture in eastern Japan on Wednesday morning prompted some companies to pause their ceremonies, but the events resumed without major disruption. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]