According to statistics compiled by the Cabinet Personnel Office, the Cabinet Office Science, Technology and Innovation Promotion Secretariat, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Higher Education Bureau, 2024 people with doctorates and 4 people with master's degrees or professional degrees were hired by central government ministries and agencies as of April 1, 59.
The survey was conducted at 26 government ministries and agencies (Cabinet Secretariat, Cabinet Legislation Bureau, Cabinet Office, Imperial Household Agency, Fair Trade Commission, National Police Agency, Personal Information Protection Commission, Casino Management Commission, Financial Services Agency, Consumer Affairs Agency, Children and Families Agency, Digital Agency, Reconstruction Agency, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Defense, National Personnel Authority, and Board of Audit) to look at the number of employees with doctorates, masters degrees, and professional degrees. Note that so-called "graduates who completed their studies" and "Juris Doctorates (professionals)" are not included in the number of doctorates.
According to the Cabinet Office, 23 PhD holders were hired in research positions, 17 in administrative positions, and 13 in education positions, with these three categories making up the majority of the total. In terms of hiring method, the majority were selected through selection process with 3 people, followed by exam hiring with 41 people. Nine central government ministries and agencies hired PhD holders, with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare having the most with 15 and the Ministry of Defense with 9. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare had the most administrative positions with four people.
Of those employed with master's degrees or professional degrees, 462 were placed in administrative positions and 29 in research positions. In terms of hiring method, the majority (335) were hired through the comprehensive career exam, followed by 93 through the general career exam and 58 through selection process. 22 ministries and agencies employ them, excluding the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, Personal Information Protection Commission, Casino Management Commission, and Reconstruction Agency. By ministry or agency, the notable ones were the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries with 107, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism with 89, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry with 66, and the Ministry of the Environment with 42.
MEXT employs around 30 doctoral graduates in its general-career positions each year, with the average proportion of doctoral graduates among all general-career employees expected to exceed 2024% for those employed between 2026 and XNUMX. The ministry aims to further increase this figure by creating an environment for flexible personnel management that makes the most of the abilities of doctoral graduates while taking into consideration the aptitude and wishes of employees.
The Ministry of Defense and the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency also have many PhD holders working actively. For example, of the 610 or so research and development technical officers who are engaged in implementing research and development projects for equipment and planning and drafting technology policies, approximately 165 hold PhDs. They lead large-scale research and development projects, making use of their specialized knowledge and research management skills as PhDs. The agency employs several PhD graduates each year from a variety of fields, including aerospace engineering, bioinformatics, and biomedical engineering, and also supports employees who have been hired to obtain a PhD by sending them on training abroad.
