Notice of Business Alliance between Laugh Career Co., Ltd. and Learnings Co., Ltd.: Launch of 'Student Guild Publishing', a Publishing Support Service Specialized in New Graduate Recruitment

Laugh Career Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Representative Director: Heiko Narita) and Learnings Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Yohei Kajita) have recently formed a business alliance and started providing 'Student Guild Publishing', a publishing support service specialized in new graduate recruitment activities. [Background of Alliance and Service Launch] 'Company appeal is not fully conveyed just through briefing sessions.' 'Many candidates decline even after an offer is made.' 'Mismatches occur after joining, with people thinking "it wasn't what I expected".' Many companies face these issues in new graduate recruitment. The real reason why recruitment does not go well is not the 'quality of students' but 'how it is communicated'. Even if there is passion and desire from management and employees, such as 'wanting to make a good company' or 'for the sake of customers,' it remains tacit knowledge and is not put into words, while superficial compensation information takes precedence. As a result, the company gets buried among students as 'just another common company'. To solve this issue, Laugh Career Co., Ltd., a recruitment professional familiar with 'what students really want to know,' and Learnings Co., Ltd., a publishing professional with a track record of over 300 corporate publishing titles, have collaborated to launch 'Student Guild Publishing'. [Worsening Job Offer Decline Rate - Recruitment Crisis Shown by Industry Data] The problem of job offer declines in new graduate recruitment is becoming more serious year by year. According to a survey (*) released by Mynavi Career Research Lab in March 2026, the percentage of companies answering that their job offer (unofficial offer) decline rate is '50% or more' reached 41.5% for 2026 graduates, an increase of about double compared to 2019 graduates (21.1%). Additionally, the most common reason for declining an offer was 'received an offer from a company with a higher preference (49.8%)', and the data clearly shows that forming the level of preference is the biggest factor determining recruitment success or failure. Furthermore, the measures cited as most effective for preventing declines were 'contact-type' measures where companies and students directly deepen their relationship, such as 'unofficial offer holder social gatherings (59.6%)', 'roundtable discussions with employees (23.8%)', and 'unofficial offer ceremonies (22.8%)'. 2019 Grads: 21.1% -> 2022 Grads: 21.0% -> 2024 Grads: 39.2% -> 2026 Grads: 41.5% Behind this is the structural issue that acquiring multiple job offers has become normal for students due to the continuing seller's market, and even after a company extends an offer, declines due to 'differences in preference level' are inevitable. 'Student Guild Publishing' is designed as a service to address these issues by fostering company understanding and empathy through books from an early stage before an offer is made, thereby raising the level of preference and contributing to reducing the decline rate. *Source: Mynavi Career Research Lab 'Trends in Job Offer (Unofficial Offer) Decline Rates - Reasons for Declines and Corporate Countermeasures' (Published March 16, 2026) (omitted in source)