[circusAGENT] New Graduate Offer Acceptances More Than Double Year-on-Year, Leveraging Expertise in Mid-Career Recruitment for Job-Seeking Support

circus Inc. (Location: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Takashi Yabe) is pleased to announce that its recruitment platform, "circusAGENT," has achieved over double the number of new graduate offer acceptances for the 2026 graduating class (FY2025 results), reaching 714 as of March 30, 2026, compared to the previous year.

Structural Changes and Challenges in New Graduate Recruitment

In recent years, the new graduate recruitment market has seen an acceleration in the job-seeking process. As of March 1st, the offer acceptance rate for university juniors graduating in 2027 reached a record high of 51.7% (※1). While the overall job-to-applicant ratio for new graduates stands at 1.66, it soars to 8.98 (※2) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 300 employees, leading to a persistent "severe recruitment difficulty" due to student concentration in large and popular companies.

In such a "super seller's market," it has become common for students to receive numerousスカウト (scouts/invitations) from companies. This has shifted job hunting towards a "passive approach," where students receive many options without actively seeking them. However, faced with a vast array of choices, many students struggle to objectively determine "which career is best suited for them," paradoxically narrowing their perspectives.

Therefore, utilizing agents who can stand between companies and students, proposing choices that "consider future career paths," has become a viable option. Furthermore, by acting as a "third party" who can understand students' true feelings and hesitations, which are difficult to share with companies during the selection process and up until joining, agents play a crucial role in preventing offer rejections and pre-joining mismatches.

※1 "Job Offer Status as of March 1st for Expected Graduates of 2027" by Career-tasu

※2 "The 42nd University Graduate Job Opening Ratio Survey (for 2026 Graduates)" by Recruit Works Institute

Three Features of New Graduate Recruitment Provided by circusAGENT

The number of offer acceptances for the 2026 graduating class (FY2025 results) on circusAGENT exceeded double the previous year, reaching 714 as of March 30, 2026. The rapid increase in successful placements is attributed to the unique features of this platform, which differ from conventional new graduate-focused agencies.

1. Over Half of Companies are "Under 300 Employees," Facing High Recruitment Difficulty

More than half of the new graduate job openings listed on circusAGENT are for SMEs with fewer than 300 employees. By providing an efficient matching platform for these companies, which face an extremely high job-to-applicant ratio of 8.98, circusAGENT facilitates recruitment success without relying on brand recognition.

2. Support for a Wide Range of Industries and Roles, and Adaptation to "Job-Based Recruitment"

In FY2025, new graduate job openings were listed across 107 industries and 155 job types (※3). To meet the demand for "role-specific recruitment" with clearly defined initial placements, rather than general hiring for comprehensive roles, offer acceptances have been achieved in the following specialized positions:

<Job Types with High Offer Acceptance Rates for New Graduates (※4)>

• IT Engineers

• Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, and Semiconductor Engineers

• Specialists in Construction and Real Estate

• Consultants and Certified Professionals

• Sales and Customer Support

• Administrative

• Sales and Service, etc.

※3 On circusAGENT

※4 Based on internal data from circusAGENT