Research on Sports Industrial Employment Demand in Local Cities

     In recent years, universities have established numerous classes and courses related to sports management and sports business, leading to the realization of an environment that nurtures sports talent. On the other hand, there are concerns that employment opportunities for students having studied the fields mentioned above, especially at universities in rural areas, are insufficient and that a gap is being formed between the content taught at universities and skills required by the sports industry. On conducting a survey in a prefecture, we found that small-scale organizations with less than 50 employees accounted for more than 80% of all the sports-related organizations and companies. There is a slight upward trend in the employment demand for new graduates fresh out of college. However, there is not an upward trend for hiring new graduates and mid-career workers who have only high school diplomas. In the sports industry in the prefecture the employment environment seems rather harsh when taking into account the recent trend that the number of new recruits has been increasing in private companies throughout the country. In addition, when hiring new graduates, the sports-related organizations in the prefecture have looked for general things like a bright and cheerful personality and good communication skills as a part of the factors it considered to be the properties of sports, and there was little demand for sports-specific knowledge. It seems that companies require people who are well versed in basic business customs and business skills, rather than those with specialized knowledge of sports. Accordingly, there is a need for universities to augment employment opportunities by building connections proactively with sports-related organizations that are conducting business development and make students more competitive by training them in general business customs and business skills. Further, the sports-related companies and organizations within the prefecture need to close the gap between the educational environment and industry.