New Fiscal Year Rush Disappears — March 2026 Job Postings Down 21.9% Year-on-Year, New Company Formations Also Negative for 3 Consecutive Months

Q: What are the key facts in this article?

According to an analysis report by SalesNow, an AI corporate data platform, job postings in March 2026 decreased by 21.9% year-on-year, and new company formations were also negative for three consecutive months, indicating a weakening of the seasonal peak for the new fiscal year.

Q: What is the direct answer?

According to an analysis report by SalesNow, an AI corporate data platform, job postings in March 2026 decreased by 21.9% year-on-year, and new company formations were also negative for three consecutive months, indicating a weakening of the seasonal peak for the new fiscal year.

Q: What is the source and date?

Source: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000001382.000049221.html | Date: Date unavailable

SalesNow Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Representative: Koki Muraoka), which provides the AI corporate data platform "SalesNow," has released the analysis report "SalesNow Data Flash Vol.3" (https://salesnow.jp/insights/data-flash-vol-3/), based on SalesNow's proprietary data of over 14 million companies and organizations, and all newly established company data from the National Tax Agency's corporate number publication site. This report is a comprehensive analysis of the March job market and new company formation trends, traditionally seeing a "new fiscal year rush" in anticipation of April new hires. In March 2026, both the number of job postings and new company formations recorded a year-on-year decrease. Finding 1: March 2026 job postings reached 1.885 million, a significant decrease of 21.9% year-on-year. The number of job postings in March 2026 was 1,885,242, approximately 530,000 fewer than March 2025 (2,414,390), resulting in a 21.9% year-on-year decrease. However, the March 2025 figure was the highest outlier in the 15-month period (January 2025 - March 2026) and may include the effect of data collection timing. The absolute level in March 2026 is about 20% higher than the 14-month monthly average (approx. 1.573 million), remaining high in the mid-to-long term range. Finding 2: New company formations in Q1 2026 totaled 36,870 companies, a 6.6% decrease year-on-year. New company formations in Q1 2026 (January-March) totaled 36,870 companies, 2,595 fewer than Q1 2025 (39,465 companies), a 6.6% year-on-year decrease. Monthly figures show year-on-year declines of -12.5% in January 2026, -5.9% in February, and -1.1% in March, marking three consecutive months of decrease. However, the magnitude of the decrease is rapidly shrinking, suggesting that the pace of deceleration may be weakening. Finding 3: The "seasonal peak" around the fiscal year-end is weakening, with April data serving as a watershed. As the majority of Japanese companies begin their fiscal

New Fiscal Year Rush Disappears — March 2026 Job Postings Down 21.9% Year-on-Year, New Company Formations Also Negative for 3 Consecutive Months

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