Number of New Graduates Joining IT Engineering Roles Increases for 4th Consecutive Year, but Growth Slows; Non-STEM Graduates Nearly Triple in 10 Years, Women Reach 30% — Workforce Composition Diversifies, While Graduate School-Level Hires Decline for the First Time in 9 Years
Human Resocia has analyzed trends in new graduates joining IT engineering roles, finding a fourth consecutive year of growth despite a slowing trend. While the number of highly specialized graduate-level hires has dropped, the composition of the workforce is diversifying with an increase in non-STEM majors and women, highlighting the growing necessity for corporate training programs post-recruitment.
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- 📰 Published: March 28, 2026 at 16:09
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Human Resocia Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinjuku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Tetsuo Takahashi; hereafter "the Company"), a comprehensive human resources service provider that also operates overseas IT engineer dispatch services, has compiled and analyzed the latest data regarding new graduate hiring trends for IT engineers, a sector experiencing high demand due to the advancement of digital transformation (DX) and the expanded utilization of AI. The results of the survey reveal that while the number of new graduates from universities and other institutions joining as IT engineers has increased for four consecutive years, the rate of this growth is shrinking. Furthermore, while the number of hires with advanced specialized knowledge (Master's/Doctoral degree holders) has shifted to a decline, the number of non-STEM (non-science/engineering) majors is on an upward trend, indicating that the composition of new graduate hires for IT engineering is diversifying. As IT technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, it is believed that talent development within companies after adoption will become even more critical.
[Key Findings of This Survey]
- The number of university and other graduates who joined as IT engineers upon graduation increased by only 0.7% year-on-year.
- The number of graduates from liberal arts backgrounds and women increased, the ratio of STEM graduates among new hires declined, and the number of graduate school-level hires decreased for the first time in 9 years.
- To respond to increasingly sophisticated IT technology, the development of post-hiring training systems is in greater demand than ever.
- This report compiles and analyzes data on graduates from higher education institutions—graduate schools, universities, junior colleges, technical colleges, and vocational schools—categorized by occupation, based on the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "School Basic Survey."
- For graduates of graduate schools, universities, junior colleges, and technical colleges, "IT engineer hires" is defined as those who joined the workforce as "Information Processing/Communication Technicians" among professional and technical workers. For vocational school graduates, it is defined as those who joined the same field having majored in "Electronic Computers" or "Information Processing."
1. Background
In the IT field, the rising demand for talent is being pointed out against the backdrop of the progress of DX and the expansion of AI utilization. Amidst active recruitment, companies are seen taking steps to strengthen their new graduate hiring. Based on these trends, we compiled and analyzed the latest data regarding the status of new graduate hiring for IT engineers among those graduating in March 2025.
2. Overview of Survey Results
- Number of new graduate IT engineer hires increases 0.7% year-on-year, but growth rate slows
The total number of people who graduated from higher education institutions (graduate schools, universities, junior colleges, technical colleges, and vocational schools) in March 2025 and joined the workforce as IT engineers upon graduation was 61,000. While this is a 0.7% increase from the previous year and the fourth consecutive year of growth, the rate of increase showed a slowing trend.
By gender, the number of men increased approximately 1.6 times from 28,000 in 2015 to 44,000 in 2025, and the number of women increased approximately 2.0 times from 9,000 in 2015 to 17,000 in 2025, exceeding the growth rate of men. The ratio of women among new hires turned upward for the first time in four years, reaching 28.0%, meaning women account for approximately 30% of new hires.
- Graduate school-level hires decline, while non-STEM hires increase
The number of people who completed Master's or Doctoral programs and joined as IT engineers upon graduation decreased by 3.4% year-on-year in 2025, falling below 10,000. Although there had been a continuing upward trend since 2017, this marks the first decline in nine years.
Furthermore, regarding the undergraduate majors of IT engineer hires, the number of STEM (Science/Engineering) majors and non-STEM majors (including liberal arts) were generally on par as of 2015, but since then, the number of non-STEM hires has increased significantly. In 2025, STEM hires totaled approximately 15,000, a 1.4-fold increase over the past 10 years, while non-STEM hires reached approximately 25,000 in 2025, a roughly 2.3-fold increase.
For reference, looking at the transition of whether students graduating from STEM fields are increasingly choosing IT engineering roles, it can be seen that while the number of men is slowly rising, the number of women, although showing an increase in 2025, is on a downward trend overall. While the active participation of women is anticipated as one of the solutions to the shortage of IT talent, there is an increasing necessity to improve the attractiveness of the profession, including improving treatment such as work styles, so that IT engineer roles are chosen by young people and women.
3. Implications of Survey Results
From the results of this survey, two changes have been confirmed: the slowing growth of new graduate IT engineer hires, and the diversification of the talent pool, such as a decrease in the highly specialized layer that has completed graduate school, and an increase in those from non-STEM backgrounds, which has increased about 2.3 times over 10 years. While technology is becoming more sophisticated and deeper IT expertise is required, the background of new graduates is expanding into non-IT specialized domains. To bridge this gap, the development of post-hiring education and training systems by companies is expected to play a more important role than ever before.
[Key Findings of This Survey]
- The number of university and other graduates who joined as IT engineers upon graduation increased by only 0.7% year-on-year.
- The number of graduates from liberal arts backgrounds and women increased, the ratio of STEM graduates among new hires declined, and the number of graduate school-level hires decreased for the first time in 9 years.
- To respond to increasingly sophisticated IT technology, the development of post-hiring training systems is in greater demand than ever.
- This report compiles and analyzes data on graduates from higher education institutions—graduate schools, universities, junior colleges, technical colleges, and vocational schools—categorized by occupation, based on the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "School Basic Survey."
- For graduates of graduate schools, universities, junior colleges, and technical colleges, "IT engineer hires" is defined as those who joined the workforce as "Information Processing/Communication Technicians" among professional and technical workers. For vocational school graduates, it is defined as those who joined the same field having majored in "Electronic Computers" or "Information Processing."
1. Background
In the IT field, the rising demand for talent is being pointed out against the backdrop of the progress of DX and the expansion of AI utilization. Amidst active recruitment, companies are seen taking steps to strengthen their new graduate hiring. Based on these trends, we compiled and analyzed the latest data regarding the status of new graduate hiring for IT engineers among those graduating in March 2025.
2. Overview of Survey Results
- Number of new graduate IT engineer hires increases 0.7% year-on-year, but growth rate slows
The total number of people who graduated from higher education institutions (graduate schools, universities, junior colleges, technical colleges, and vocational schools) in March 2025 and joined the workforce as IT engineers upon graduation was 61,000. While this is a 0.7% increase from the previous year and the fourth consecutive year of growth, the rate of increase showed a slowing trend.
By gender, the number of men increased approximately 1.6 times from 28,000 in 2015 to 44,000 in 2025, and the number of women increased approximately 2.0 times from 9,000 in 2015 to 17,000 in 2025, exceeding the growth rate of men. The ratio of women among new hires turned upward for the first time in four years, reaching 28.0%, meaning women account for approximately 30% of new hires.
- Graduate school-level hires decline, while non-STEM hires increase
The number of people who completed Master's or Doctoral programs and joined as IT engineers upon graduation decreased by 3.4% year-on-year in 2025, falling below 10,000. Although there had been a continuing upward trend since 2017, this marks the first decline in nine years.
Furthermore, regarding the undergraduate majors of IT engineer hires, the number of STEM (Science/Engineering) majors and non-STEM majors (including liberal arts) were generally on par as of 2015, but since then, the number of non-STEM hires has increased significantly. In 2025, STEM hires totaled approximately 15,000, a 1.4-fold increase over the past 10 years, while non-STEM hires reached approximately 25,000 in 2025, a roughly 2.3-fold increase.
For reference, looking at the transition of whether students graduating from STEM fields are increasingly choosing IT engineering roles, it can be seen that while the number of men is slowly rising, the number of women, although showing an increase in 2025, is on a downward trend overall. While the active participation of women is anticipated as one of the solutions to the shortage of IT talent, there is an increasing necessity to improve the attractiveness of the profession, including improving treatment such as work styles, so that IT engineer roles are chosen by young people and women.
3. Implications of Survey Results
From the results of this survey, two changes have been confirmed: the slowing growth of new graduate IT engineer hires, and the diversification of the talent pool, such as a decrease in the highly specialized layer that has completed graduate school, and an increase in those from non-STEM backgrounds, which has increased about 2.3 times over 10 years. While technology is becoming more sophisticated and deeper IT expertise is required, the background of new graduates is expanding into non-IT specialized domains. To bridge this gap, the development of post-hiring education and training systems by companies is expected to play a more important role than ever before.