經濟低迷 日本畢業生青睞低風險行業

Heading en masse to new positions in Japan's major corporations, fresh university graduates in black suits have become as common a sight in Tokyo as April's cherry blossoms. But this year, things are different.

According to a closely watched annual survey, the companies that were once synonymous with Japan Inc. - Toyota, Sony, Sharp and Canon - have lost their luster as potential employers. For those seeking secure jobs-for-life, students are instead looking to relatively low-risk industries such as railroads and public utilities.

The survey, a poll of nearly 6,000 university seniors is conducted by Recruit Co., a Tokyo-based research and human resources company. Toyota's ranking as a preferred employer plummeted from 6th place last year to 96th place this year. Sony fell from 8th to 29th place; Sharp from 14th to 55th place; Canon from 20th to 77th place.

And which companies are the top five dream employers? Central Japan Railway and East Japan Railway Co. rose to first and second place (up from 4th and 9th place last year). Japan Post - formerly the public office that the government began to privatize in 2007 - jumped 357 spots to rank 30th. Chubu Electric Power and Kansai Electric Power both gained more than 50 places each to rank in the top 50.

Recruit collected the data between Jan. 30 and Feb. 16, as a series of dire economic indicators painted a dismal economic outlook for Japan and major companies were laying off workers in waves. "News reports about worsened business and manpower conditions came out one after another," says Recruit spokeswoman Yuri Ito.

"This survey is done around the time companies announce their recruitment plan for the following year. So some students might vote for those that plan to hire aggressively. Students consider companies in industries like infrastructure and food, which are robust in a recession... companies that are stable and don't go away," says Ito. "Their parents think the same."

Grad students in engineering fields, of whom 1,860 were polled, still chose Panasonic as their ideal employer (followed by Sony), but automotive-related companies dropped in rank, and household products (including cosmetics) and pharmaceutical companies grew in popularity. The largest gains were seen by cosmetics companies Kao and Kose, food company Meiji, and three pharmaceutical companies: Shionogi & Co., Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., and Astellas.

Kevin Gibson, managing director of headhunting firm Robert Walters Japan, says he, too, is witnessing a flight to risk-free industries. "We see a gravitation away from banking and, oddly enough, manufacturing is perceived as insecure now," Gibson says.

But Gibson says the brain drain from old-guard companies may not last. "Media spent so much time beating up on these companies," he says. "They will bounce back."

日本大公司一有招聘，身穿黑色禮服的大學畢業生就蜂擁而上，他們已經成爲東京街頭和四月綻放的櫻花一樣常見的風景。但今年卻大不相同。

根據一項備受矚目的年度調查，曾爲日本企業象徵的豐田、索尼、夏普、佳能等公司已經盡失潛在僱主的魅力。尋求可靠的終身職業的學生轉而把目光投向風險相對較低的行業，例如鐵路和公共事業。

東京的市場調查和人力資源公司Recruit對近六千名大學高年級學生進行了調查。在最佳僱主排行榜上，豐田公司從去年的第6位跌至今年的第96位。索尼公司從第8位跌至第29位，夏普公司從第14位跌至第55位，而佳能公司則從第20位跌至第77位。

哪五家公司被評爲最理想僱主呢？中央日本鐵路公司和東日本鐵路公司分別從去年的第4位和第9位升至今年的前兩位。原爲國有機構的日本郵政公社升至第30位，上升了357名，2007年日本政府開始對其實施私有化。日本中部電力公司和日本關西電力公司均躋身前50強，也都上升了50多位。

Recruit公司於今年1月30日至2月16日之間開展了此項調查，這期間一連串糟糕的經濟數據描繪出日本灰暗的經濟前景，大公司紛紛裁員。Recruit公司女發言人Yuri Ito說：“當時，有關惡化的經濟和就業狀況的新聞報道接連不斷。”

Ito說：“這項調查大約是在各公司宣佈下一年度招聘計劃時進行的，因此一些學生可能會選擇那些計劃逆市擴招的公司。學生會考慮基礎設施建設、食品業等在危機中發展勢頭強勁的公司，這些公司比較穩定，而且不會突然倒閉。學生的父母也這樣想。”

共有1860名工科畢業生參與了調查，他們心目中的理想僱主仍然是松下公司，索尼公司位居其次，但汽車公司排名暴跌。日用品公司（包括化妝品）以及製藥公司大受歡迎。最大的贏家包括花王和高絲化妝品公司、明治食品公司、以及鹽野義製藥株式會社、中外製藥株式會社和安斯泰來製藥廠三家制藥公司。

日本Robert Walters獵頭公司常務董事凱文•吉布森稱，他也目睹着人們轉而涌入無風險行業的場面。吉布森說：“我們發覺銀行業吸引力減退，說來也奇怪，人們現在覺得製造業也不可靠。”

但吉布森稱老牌公司的人才流失不會持續很久。他說：“媒體花了這麼多時間給這些公司打氣，它們會復甦的。”

Vocabulary:

en masse：in a mass; all together; as a group（全體地，一同地）

plummet：to decline suddenly and steeply（下降，跌落）

brain drain：a loss of trained professional personnel to another company, nation, etc., that offers greater opportunity.（人才流失）

old-guard：資深的，保守的