高校生の就職が好調、仕事の数が過去最高に

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is June twenty-first. For high-school students looking for work, this is the best job market on record — there are more openings than ever. Let's listen.

Let's break it down.

Job-hunting looks very good for people graduating high school next spring.

It means finding a job, or employment — landing your first position after finishing school.

There are many companies saying 'we want you to work for us' for each single high-school student.

It means to work. A related noun means labor — the work itself.

I hear there are, on average, more than four jobs for each high-school student.

It means a job, or work — what you do all day, and what you look for when job-hunting.

This is the highest number since the survey began in nineteen eighty-eight.

It means number or count — here, the number of jobs available for each student.

The reason is that many companies don't have enough workers.

It means manpower, or helping hands. Being short of hands is a phrase you'll hear all over Japan now.

In Japan, the number of young people is gradually decreasing.

It means to decrease, to go down in number. It's the opposite of the verb meaning to increase.

So companies want high-school students, too, to come and join them.

It means to think, or to feel — the verb you reach for to give an opinion, as in 'I think that ....'

Some companies have even started raising pay to about the same as university graduates get.

It means salary, or pay. The day it lands is payday, and when it climbs, you've gotten a raise.

Let's listen to the full story one more time.

Quiz time. Three questions.

What's the job situation for people graduating high school next spring? Very good — lots of openings for each student.

On average, how many jobs are there per high-school student? More than four.

Why are there so many jobs? Because companies are short of workers, and young people are decreasing.

That's today's Japanese Daily News. Full transcript with furigana at podcast.jpnotes.dev. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. See you tomorrow.