Mynavi Survey: 58.7% of Students Graduating in 2027 Hope to Work in Their Hometowns or Return Home for Employment, First Rise in Four Years

Mynavi Corporation announced the results of its “Mynavi 2027 Graduate Survey on U-turn and Hometown Employment among University Students,” conducted among university and graduate students across Japan who are scheduled to graduate in 2027. According to the survey, 58.7% of students said they hope to work in their hometowns, including U-turn employment, up 2.3 percentage points from the previous year and marking the first increase in four years. Among students studying outside their hometowns, 49.3% were classified as the “active U-turn group,” meaning they currently wish to work in their hometowns, up 4.3 points year on year. The “latent U-turn group,” who hope to work in their hometowns in the future, accounted for 6.4%, while the “non-oriented group,” who are not considering hometown employment either now or in the future, accounted for 44.3%. Among students currently hoping to work in their hometowns, the most common reason was “I want to live near my parents or grandparents by my own choice,” cited by 47.2%. This was followed by “I like the climate and culture of my hometown” at 39.4%, and “It is financially easier because I can commute from my family home / I am used to living in my hometown” at 33.8%. Amid rising prices and living costs, more students appear to be considering career location together with life planning, which may be contributing to the increase in hometown-oriented employment preferences. The survey also found that 71.7% of the latent U-turn group had opportunities to learn about local companies by the time they were in high school. This was higher than the active group at 58.4% and the non-oriented group at 53.4%. Across all groups, many respondents said they had heard about local companies through school classes or career guidance. A distinctive feature of the latent group was that 44.0% had heard about companies where family members or acquaintances worked, suggesting that everyday conversations about local work and careers may influence future U-turn intentions. When asked whether contact with local companies before graduating from high school affects attitudes toward hometown employment, 46.5% of students who studied outside their hometowns said they believe it does. Among the latent U-turn group, 50.1% said such contact has an influence. For students who do not currently want to work in their hometowns, the top condition that might make them consider doing so was “more job opportunities with good salaries,” cited by 42.9%. This was followed by “more companies where I would want to work,” at 40.3%. In open-ended responses, students said many local companies seem inferior to urban companies in terms of pay and benefits, and called for better salaries, welfare programs, and student loan repayment support that would make living locally more attractive than moving to Tokyo or other major cities. Other suggestions included improving the appeal of local communities, holding company briefings and interviews online, and offering career education, workplace visits, and job experience programs for elementary, junior high, and high school students before they leave their hometowns for university. Shoko Ide, Senior Researcher at Mynavi Career Research Lab, commented that the share of students hoping for hometown employment, including U-turn employment, rose for the first time in four years. Even after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising prices and living costs appear to be encouraging students to think about work location and life planning together. At the same time, many students who do not wish to work in their hometowns place importance on salary levels and the availability of companies they want to work for. To keep hometown employment as a viable option as students’ life stages and values change, it will be important not only to improve compensation but also to continuously provide early opportunities to learn about local companies, jobs, and working styles. The survey was conducted online from March 20 to April 5, 2026, among university and graduate students across Japan expected to graduate in March 2027. The number of valid responses was 2,800.