Music producer Tanaka Kohei posted what he heard from seiyu about the current situation of their industry. The amount of jobs one seiyu can get becomes smaller and smaller these days. The number and the length of anime produced last year were about 80% of those in 2006, and on top of that more than one hundred newface seiyu make their debut every year. Veteran, newface and even popular idol seiyu contend for roles in the auditions. Especially, girl characters with cute voices and boy characters with cool voices are highly competitive.

Nabatame Hitomi posted in her blog that a senpai seiyu told her "You're extremely lucky if you acquire five roles out of one hundred auditions." Even if they win a main role, most of the series end in three or six months. Seiyu have to keep on attending auditions not to be jobless.

Sources: Tanaka's blog, Nabatame's blog, Anime!Anime!
Related topic: Veteran Seiyu Fails To Find A Job