内定率６９％、コロナで就活厳しく　過去２番目の落ち込み―２１年大卒

　厚生労働省と文部科学省は１７日、２０２１年３月卒業予定の大学生の就職内定率が１０月１日時点で６９．８％となり、前年の同じ時期より７．０ポイント低下したと発表した。新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大で厳しい就職活動を強いられ、１０月時点では１５年以来５年ぶりに７０％を割り込んだ。低下幅はリーマン・ショック後の０９年調査（７．４ポイント）に次ぐ過去２番目の大きさ。
　１０月時点の内定率は１０年（５７．６％）を底に上昇基調をたどってきたが、今年は「売り手市場」の就職環境が一変した形だ。新型コロナの影響などで業績が悪化した企業が採用を抑制していることに加え、感染予防で「多くの企業説明会が中止になり、大学側が十分に支援することができなかった」（厚労省）とみられる。（2020/11/17-17:44）

The proportion of job-seeking university students in Japan graduating next March who had secured informal job offers as of Oct. 1 stood at 69.8 pct, down 7.0 percentage points from a year before, a government survey showed Tuesday.
   The October rate slipped below 70 pct for the first time since 2015, as students' job-hunting activities were seriously affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic, according to the survey by the labor and education ministries.
   The pace of decline was the second steepest on record, after the 7.4-point plunge posted in the October 2009 survey, conducted in the aftermath of the global financial crisis reflecting the September 2008 collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers. Although the October job-securing rate had been rising since hitting bottom in 2010, at 57.6 pct, a seller's market for job hunters has changed drastically this year.
   Companies facing earnings deterioration are moving to curb hiring. While many companies were forced to cancel their job seminars amid the epidemic, universities have been unable to provide enough support to job-seeking students, a labor ministry official said.
   Of students majoring in humanities and social sciences, 68.7 pct secured informal job offers, down 7.5 points, according to the latest survey. The rate for students with science majors was down 4.8 points at 74.5 pct.