Major Japanese firms want to boost their graduate recruitment levels over the next year with a particular focus on female hires, according to a new survey.

In the survey, released this month by the Yomiuri Shimbun and Nippon Television Network, 27% of the country's major companies said they were planning to hire more graduates for the next financial year than in the previous year – up from 20% in the previous year's survey.

Only 11% of the companies surveyed said they intended to reduce hiring, down from 21% the previous year, while 52% planned to hire the same number as the previous year.

Companies in the construction, automobile and financial industries were among those most keen to increase the number of new recruits, while a significant number of all the companies had a strong interest in increasing their number of female employees.

Of those surveyed, 27% wanted to hire more women, while 39% expected a similar level as in the previous year and none wanted fewer female hires.

The survey includes responses from 100 major companies who were surveyed between 24 February and 13 March 2014.

• Want to comment on this story? The Comment box is at the bottom of the page. Sorry for the glitch but just scroll right down and share your opinions!