More than 2,300 people from all over Japan applied for five positions with the municipal government of Suita city, in Osaka prefecture, as competition for stable jobs intensified amid signs Japan's economy is deteriorating, Bloomberg reported.
The city, with a population of about 350,000, advertised the administrative roles on its website, Toru Atsuta, a city spokesman, said by telephone today, confirming media reports.
"We didn't expect such a large number of applicants," Atsuta said. "People came from almost every corner of this country, including Hokkaido and Kyushu, which is quite unusual for relatively small local governments like us."
Japan's jobless rate jumped to 4.4. percent in December, up 0.5 percentage point from November, as the nation's economy shrank at the fastest pace since the 1974 oil shock last quarter. The world's second-largest economy will shrink by a record 4 percent in the fiscal year starting April 1, according to the median estimate of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Among the 2,362 applicants who sat for a test in Suita, 657 were in their 40's and 222 were in their 50's. The ratio of seekers to available jobs was fifteen times the usual rate, Atsuta said.
"I heard one applicant remark that stability comes first before anything else in times like this," Atsuta said.