Informal Job Offer Rate at End of April Reaches 72.7%, Second Consecutive Month Below Previous Year but Still High. Job Hunting Activity Rate at 60%, Science Students See Significant Year-on-Year Increase to 45.9% [2027 Graduate Survey]

Gakujo Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo) conducted an internet questionnaire survey targeting university and graduate students scheduled to graduate (complete their studies) in March 2027, regarding the latest "status of informal job offer acquisition."

The informal job offer rate at the end of April exceeded 70% at 72.7%, but it was 2.2 percentage points lower than 74.9% at the same time last year, marking the second consecutive month it fell below the previous year. It seems that the trend of early selection has settled down, possibly due to the reaction from the rapid progress of early selections from internships and the uncertain economic outlook. Nevertheless, it is still higher than the same period for 2025 graduates, maintaining a high rate. By field, the humanities rate was 70.1%, almost the same as the previous year, while the science rate was 77.8%, 5.2 percentage points lower than the previous year when it exceeded 80%. The gap between humanities and science, which was in double digits until the previous month, narrowed to 7.7 percentage points. Notably, the job hunting activity rate was 59.1%, down 8.1 percentage points from the previous month, but 8.0 percentage points higher than the same period last year. While it had fallen to almost half last year, this year 60% are still active. Among them, the activity rate for science students fell below 50%, but it was 15.0 percentage points higher than the same period last year, indicating that many students continue job hunting even after receiving informal offers, which is a characteristic of this year.

[TOPICS]

(1) Informal job offer rate at the end of April 72.7%, maintaining a high rate

(2) Humanities almost same as previous year at 70.1%, Science stagnates at 77.8% - Gap between humanities and science narrows

(3) Humanities job hunting activity rate 65.6%, Science 45.9% with significant year-on-year increase

https://service.gakujo.ne.jp/jinji-library/report/27naiteiritsu0501/

(1) Informal job offer rate at the end of April 72.7%, maintaining a high rate

The informal job offer rate for 2027 graduates in May (as of the end of April) was 72.7%, up 6.7 percentage points from the previous month. It reached a high rate of over 70% two months after the start of recruitment publicity on March 1. However, it was 2.2 percentage points lower than the same period last year, marking the second consecutive month it fell below the previous year. Nevertheless, it is still higher than 70.1% for 2025 graduates in the same period, maintaining a high rate.

(2) Humanities almost same as previous year at 70.1%, Science stagnates at 77.8% - Gap between humanities and science narrows

Looking at the breakdown by field, the humanities rate was 70.1%, up 8.1 percentage points from the previous month, and 0.7 percentage points lower than the same period last year. This marks the fourth consecutive month it has been below the previous year since the end of January, but this time it was almost on par with the previous year. On the other hand, the science rate stagnated at 77.8%, up 3.6 percentage points from the previous month. It was 5.2 percentage points lower than the same period last year. This is the second consecutive month that the science rate has been below the previous year, continuing the sharp slowdown in growth from the previous month. The gap between humanities and science, which was in double digits until the previous month, narrowed to 7.7 percentage points.

(3) Humanities job hunting activity rate 65.6%, Science 45.9% with significant year-on-year increase

The percentage of students "currently job hunting" was 59.1%, down 8.1 percentage points from the previous month, but 8.0 percentage points higher than the same period last year. The percentage of students who "obtained an informal offer and finished job hunting" was 37.4%, up 5.5 percentage points from the previous month. By field, the humanities activity rate was 65.6%, down 6.7 percentage points from the previous month, and the science rate was 45.9%, down 11.1 percentage points. Although the science rate fell below 50%, it is notably 15.0 percentage points higher than the same month last year. Compared to the same period last year, when the informal job offer rate was 83.0% and the job hunting activity rate was 30.9%, it is clear that many students continue job hunting even after receiving informal offers.

■Survey Overview

・Survey period: April 23, 2026 - April 30, 2026

・Survey institution: Gakujo Co., Ltd.

・Target: University and graduate students scheduled to graduate (complete studies) in March 2027

・Valid responses: 418

・Survey method: Internet questionnaire

*Figures for each item are rounded to one decimal place by rounding off the second decimal place, so the total of multiple-choice answers may not be 100.0%.

■About Gakujo Co., Ltd.

TSE Prime listed company, member of Keidanren. Since 2004, it has advocated "20s year-round recruitment." It is a major job and転職 information company that comprehensively supports the recruitment of people in their 20s and 30s, centered on "Re-Shukatsu," a job change site for people in their 20s (No. 1 for 7 consecutive years chosen by people in their 20s, Tokyo Shoko Research survey 2019-2025) with 2.8 million members, "Re-Shukatsu 30," a direct recruiting service for people in their 30s, and "Re-Shukatsu Campus," a scout-type job hunting site with 600,000 members.

It also held the first "Joint Company Seminar" in Japan (according to its own research) and offers various services related to recruiting young talent, such as "Tenshoku Haku" (Job Change Fair) and "Shushoku Haku" (Job Hunting Fair).

[Founded / 1976 Capital / 1.5 billion yen Member organizations / Japan Business Federation, National Association of Job Information Agencies, Japan Staffing Services Association, Japan Employment Information Publishing Council, Public Interest Incorporated Association