Japan Post Holdings Co. is hiring fewer graduates than it planned next fiscal year, in contrast with labor union calls for the newly listed financial and mail delivery giant to boost staffing.
A total of 5,635 recent grads will join the postal group on April 1, the Tokyo-based company said in an emailed statement. That's 14 percent fewer than the 6,540 it initially planned to hire a year ago. It's a 6.5 percent decline from the 6,027 who joined last April.
Japan Post and its banking and insurance units, which sold $12 billion of shares in a three-pronged initial public offering last November, are under pressure to boost profit for investors while also maintaining universal services in accordance with the rules of the privatization. The group is one of the nation's biggest employers, with more than 200,000 workers in branches around the country.