[2026 New Graduate Employee Survey] Approx. 40% of New Hires at SMEs Cannot Envision Working for 'More Than 3 Years' Just Two Weeks After Joining

tri LLC (Headquarters: Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture; Representative: Keisuke Okubo), which provides organizational development consulting services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), conducted an 'Awareness Survey of 2026 New Employees Immediately After Joining' targeting employees who joined companies with fewer than 300 employees as new graduates in April 2026 (hereinafter referred to as SME new employees). This survey revealed the reality of the gap SME new employees feel before and after joining, their future intention to continue working, and what they expect from their companies. For SMEs suffering from chronic labor shortages, preventing the early turnover of newly acquired graduate employees is an urgent issue. Particularly in recent years, with the diversification of values, it is said that proper reception (onboarding) immediately after joining holds the key to retention. However, in SMEs with limited human resources, it is often impossible to build a sufficient training system, and there are many cases where new employees feel 'abandoned' or experience a 'gap from their ideals.' Therefore, tri LLC conducted this survey to clarify the real anxieties, dissatisfactions, and psychological states of new employees immediately after joining, and to explore the ideal state of appropriate retention support in SMEs. - Over 80% of new SME employees answered that they 'received training/guidance' between joining and today. - Approximately 40% of new SME employees feel a 'negative gap' between their pre-joining image and the post-joining reality. - Among new SME employees feeling a negative gap, more than 1 in 3 feel anxiety or a gap regarding the point that 'bosses and seniors seem busy, and there is an unwelcoming atmosphere.' - Approximately 40% of new SME employees currently cannot envision 'continuing to work at their current employer for more than 3 years.' - What they most want to request from their company right now is 'to watch over them warmly without getting angry if they fail,' followed by 'to provide clear instructions and goals without leaving them alone.' - Over 45% of new SME employees hold depressed feelings about 'going to work again' after the Golden Week holidays. Survey Period: April 15 - April 20, 2026 Survey Method: Internet survey Survey Target: Employees who joined companies with fewer than 300 employees as new graduates in April 2026 Number of Respondents: 135 Monitor Provider: RC Research Data *Because response ratios are rounded to the first decimal place, the sum of the response ratios may not equal exactly 100.0%. Over 80% of new SME employees answered that they 'received training/guidance' between joining and today. First, in response to the question, 'Has there been sufficient "training/reception response (onboarding)" from the company from the time you joined until today?', the top answer was 'A schedule was set, and there was generous training/guidance' at 45.9%. The second was 'There was a certain amount of training/guidance' at 36.3%, and the third was 'There was no specific training; it was a style of watching and learning on the job' at 10.4%. The combined ratio of the 1st and 2nd answers is 82.2%, indicating that over 80% of new SME employees answered that they received 'training/guidance' to varying degrees since joining. Approximately 40% of new SME employees feel a 'negative gap' between their pre-joining image and the post-joining reality. Next, regarding the question, 'Do you feel a "negative gap" between your image before joining (during selection) and the reality after joining?', the top answer was 'Do not feel it much' at 45.9%. The second was 'Feel it somewhat' at 29.6%, third was 'Do not feel it at all' at 14.8%, and fourth was 'Feel it strongly' at 9.6%. Although 'Do not feel it much' is the most common, the combined ratio of the 2nd and 4th answers is 39.2%. This reveals that approximately 40% of new SME employees feel a 'negative gap' to some degree between their pre-joining expectations and reality. Among new SME employees feeling a negative gap, more than 1 in 3 feel anxiety or a gap regarding the point that 'bosses and seniors seem busy, and there is an unwelcoming atmosphere.' Subsequently, for those who felt a negative gap, we asked, 'Specifically, in what areas do you feel a gap or anxiety?' The top answer was 'Bosses and seniors seem busy, and there is an unwelcoming atmosphere' at 34.0%. Tied for second at 30.2% were 'The job content is different from what I heard / it is boring' and 'Dissatisfaction with conditions such as excessive overtime or difficulty taking time off.' From this result, it is evident that over one-third of new SME employees who experience a negative gap feel anxious because the 'bosses and seniors seem busy, and there is an unwelcoming atmosphere.'