'No thanks': Japan's youth shun local government jobs as job market booms

As fewer young people in Japan seek careers in local government, municipalities across the country are struggling to fill positions. Analysts say the appeal of local civil servant jobs is fading as a buoyant private-sector job market — with the university graduate employment rate reaching 98 percent — leaves applicants with little incentive to endure the extra burden of civil service entrance exams for comparatively lower pay.

According to a recent NHK report, Kushimoto, a town in the southern part of Wakayama Prefecture, is grappling with a sharp drop in applicants for general administrative positions. The town typically hires two to five people a year, but the number of applicants has fallen steadily — from 61 in 2019 to just eight in 2024.

A neighboring town, Nachikatsuura, faces a similar situation. Its regular recruitment exam drew 138 applicants in 2009, but that figure fell to nine in 2024, a record low.

The decline is not confined to small rural towns. Data released by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications last December showed that the competition ratio for local government civil service exams in fiscal 2024 stood at roughly 4.1 to 1 — the lowest in 30 years.

The shift reflects a transformed job market. A survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology found that the employment rate among Japanese university graduates who completed their studies in March this year reached 98.0 percent, matching the previous year's figure and extending a streak of high employment.

Private-sector hiring appetite remains strong as well. A survey by Japanese credit research firm Teikoku Databank of 23,568 companies nationwide, conducted in February, found that 60.3 percent planned to hire full-time employees this year.

For young job seekers, the calculus has shifted: there is simply less reason to spend time preparing for a separate civil service exam. Inatsugi Hiroaki, a professor at Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics, said local government jobs deter many young people because the pay is lower than in the private sector and applicants must prepare for general knowledge exams on top of their regular job search.

In the past, job insecurity drove many toward the guaranteed tenure of public employment, but with private-sector positions now easier to find, stability alone is no longer enough to attract young talent, analysts say.

The concern is that the staffing shortage could translate into a decline in public services. Fewer applicants make it harder to fill vacancies on time, and the workload on existing staff grows heavier. Data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed that in fiscal 2024, some 48,971 local government employees — about 1.5 percent of the total workforce — took sick leave or a leave of absence of one month or more due to mental health issues.

"A drop in the number of civil service applicants is nothing short of the beginning of misfortune for residents," Inatsugi said.

Local governments are responding by lowering barriers to entry. Kushimoto expanded its regular recruitment exam from once a year to twice — in June and September — starting this year, and raised the upper age limit for applicants by 10 years to 45. As a result, 45 people applied for general administrative positions in June, allowing the town to fill its planned intake.

Nachikatsuura overhauled its exam format entirely. It scrapped the traditional general knowledge test — which covers areas such as law — and introduced the SPI aptitude test widely used in private-sector hiring, opening the door to job seekers who have not prepared specifically for civil service exams.

The town also began allowing online applications to make it easier for candidates outside the region to apply. The first recruitment cycle under the new format drew 24 applicants — more than double the previous year's figure — including candidates from Hokkaido, Hiroshima and Fukuoka prefectures, well outside Wakayama.

Major cities are not immune either. For its fiscal 2026 experienced-hire recruitment, Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture raised the upper age limit for some positions to 61. The city runs a separate selection track for general office roles open to candidates aged 40 to 61, while welfare and technical positions accept applicants between 25 and 61.

The move in effect keeps the door open for mid-career hires until just before retirement age. Kobe also conducts experienced-hire recruitment year-round and offers a track that requires no special civil service exam preparation, relying instead on aptitude tests and interviews.

The sweeping changes to recruitment practices signal that the traditional model of selecting civil servants primarily from among young applicants has hit its limits. Experts say that as local governments compete with private companies for talent, sustaining stable public administration will require more than just lowering age limits and simplifying exams — it will also demand better pay and working conditions, lighter workloads and strategies to make regional postings more attractive.