A record number of graduates had their job offers canceled this spring, a recent survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare reported. More than 2,000 offers in total were withdrawn, double the number of the second worst year — 1998 — when several brokerage firms collapsed.

Cancellations this year involved a total of 427 businesses, most of which said they could not honor their offers because of bankruptcy or business slowdowns. Whatever the reasons, the job-hunting and hiring system needs a serious rethink.

Those cancellations came on top of an already bad year for new hires. Total job offers declined by one-fourth from the year before. The job offer-to-seeker ratio was also at a four-year low, the Works Institute reported. Though the institute downplayed the seriousness of these numbers, suggesting that recent years had excess recruitment, for those graduates out of work, the direness of the situation is beyond dispute. And while many businesses quibble over exact numbers, the total may well be underreported. Whatever the exact numbers, these figures reveal a deep rupture in one basic element of Japan, Inc. — hiring.