What do you think about companies that retract job offers to graduates because of the economic downturn?

It depends on whether the offer was accepted before it was retracted. If the offer had been accepted, then by retracting the offer the company reneged on a deal. Such an action would make the company unworthy of being trusted, and thus unsuitable in a business relationship as either a customer or a supplier.

What do you think about companies that retract job offers to graduates because of the economic downturn?

That practice is a symptom of the credit-based way of doing business. Promise now, pay later. Maybe this depression will cure the western world of writing checks without knowing the balance.

maybe the problem is japanese companies hire people before they graduatee from school. wait for them to graduate. look at your companies economic outlook and then decide whether there is a need to make job offers, staffing decisions, etc. is this sort of thing happening in any other G8 countries?

Understandable given the circumstances, but this is, in Japan, illegal, and companies that do it should b delt with accordingly. The lesson is, companies need to be more careful before they make their hirings.

Their final university lesson. It should happen every year to make these 20-something kids grow up.

It is sad for the prospective candidates.It's a hard dose of reality.We should have some feeling for the people who lost their jobs even before getting to start them.Hopefully if some companies can step up to the plate and help out that would be great for these young adults venturing out into the real world for the first time.

I feel sorry for them but if nothing is in writting why should they pay them anything??? You shouldn't stop looking until you have a signed contract.

It is a shame.

That should have read, "they shouldN'T offer someone..."

And while people can lose their jobs at any time, I think a company should be held responsible for at least the one month of salary just like companies are responsible for one month of salary when they let people go.

Some pretty good posts, but my thought is though they need to learn to live with disappointment, you're talking about a contract, albeit a verbal one. If a company tells me I have a job and I stop looking I think the company should be liable for a little compensation. They're hired in January/February and then you tell them in March that they don't have a job??? This is Japan, most will be without a job for the entire next year. I doubt if verbal contracts are binding in Japan especially when it comes to companies, but they should offer someone a job if they don't know the economic situation.

Cultural differences. Japan needs to catch up with the west and realise that "lifelong" employment is gone and that getting a job your second last year of uni is not a good thing - they spend all their time looking for jobs. Actually the uni system in Japan needs to be scrapped, as do entrance exams....

All fine, kids need to learn dissapointment too. I always council my staff (at one of those bloodsucking organisations Notginger) to keep the CV up to date and most importantly know what they are worth. At the end of the day, I want my team to be as happy and settled as possible and not worrying if they could make an extra buck at firm B helps that.

At the same time I do council them never to move for less than a 25% raise (unless they have strong personal motivation to do so). People that chop and move for 5 or 10% are kidding themselves.

Let them. But in return, somebody needs to educate the Japanese (and American) people that these relentlessly greedy corporations are not worthy or their loyalty and devotion. Employees should feel free to move around and get the best deal possible, rather than slavishly devoting their lives to one bloodsucking entity.

"Evertyhing is fair in war and love", and we are talking about economic war. No, it is very unfair on the part of employers.

c'est la vie!

This is a good example of a cultural difference. (in my case Canada vs Japan)

In all honesty I didn't think much of it, and to be expected in a shrinking economy. Best introduction to business life ever. Reality is a good teacher.

Kids would have to wake up and look for a job rather than having it handed to them. My guess though that this is culturally not the norm here hence the press, so would be not be acceptable.

After all the complaining though, this will work out better. People will find jobs that suit them or their needs, ask meaningful questions, and always remember that a company can change at anytime. Thus they will be more prepared to save money and change jobs when their own needs change. They can also use the former spite against them in any future barganing.

This may shift towards a more Western style of being responsible to yourself first, and business second, but hard to say. If we see more self-employed this will be the result. If not, then no. Is it the end of the company as identity? Also hard to say, so I'd say not yet.