Leading businesses are delaying job fairs for college students for next year's positions and entrance ceremonies for new employees out of respect for victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Leading businesses are delaying job fairs for college students for next year's positions and entrance ceremonies for new employees out of respect for victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Ajinomoto Co. is set to postpone recruitment events for college students in the Tohoku region who hope to join the food products and seasonings maker next year.
About 50 students were expected to attend the events scheduled to kick off early this month in Sendai, a major city ravaged by the quake and tsunami last month.
But Ajinomoto decided on the postponement to allow students to take care of their families and communities first.
The company said it has not set an alternate date for the events.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corp. (NTT East) also delayed its job fair in Sendai, Tokyo and Sapporo.
Job hunting by college seniors shifts into high gear in April, the first month of the new fiscal year.
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, too, has decided to put off events for prospective employees from April to after May.
"We worry applicants may have difficulty in transportation due to rolling blackouts (introduced in the Kanto region)," a bank official said.
But the official said the bank hopes to conduct the events before summer, when students have college exams and a serious electricity shortage is expected.
Among companies putting off job fairs from April to after June are Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., NEC Corp., Panasonic Corp., Toshiba Corp., Sharp Corp., Mitsui & Co. and Kirin Brewery Co.
Some companies said they are too occupied with rebuilding to make a decision on when to begin the selection process.
Businesses' welcoming ceremonies for college and high school graduates on Friday were either canceled or postponed to give priority to restoration efforts.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the embattled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Mizuho Financial Group, brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc. and Japan Post Holdings Co., all canceled their events.
Japan Post Holdings called off all ceremonies at its five group companies to focus on recovery. There have been casualties among Japan Post employees, and post offices and pickup and delivery centers have been damaged.
Toho Holdings Co., a wholesaler of pharmaceutical products, also canceled its entrance ceremony and had its 45 new employees start work from Friday at key centers across the country without a training session.
The decision came after reports of a shortage of drugs in the disaster area.
Mizuho Financial Group opted out of the ceremony, citing the difficulties quake and tsunami victims are experiencing.
NTT East will delay the ceremony for a month because its communications networks suffered extensive damage.
It said it will reassign new employees scheduled to go to work at damaged branches.
Some companies moved ceremonies initially planned for Tokyo to Osaka.
Nippon Life Insurance Co. decided to hold the ceremony for new employees on its career track in its main office in Osaka rather than in Tokyo. The switch was made after Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, where its training facility is located, suffered soil liquefaction in many areas.
Synthetic fiber maker Teijin Ltd., Resona Holdings Inc. and Itoham Foods Inc. were also set to move incoming events from Tokyo to the Kansai region.