'The momentum for wage hikes has been maintained'
Average summer bonuses across Japan's major firms grew for the second consecutive year to hit 903,397 yen, up 0.47% from a year before, according to a survey from the country's biggest employers group.
This is the first time in three years that it surpassed the 900,000-yen mark, while also logging the sixth-highest average summer bonus in Japan since 1981, the Jiji Press reported, citing the Japan Business Federation.
"The momentum for wage hikes has been maintained," the federation, or Keidanren, said as quoted by the news outlet.
The federation's survey among 161 companies from 19 industries revealed that 10 sectors registered higher summer bonuses, with the top three being:
- Food makers (14.58%)
- Shipbuilders (13.81%)
- Machinery and metals makers (13.11%)
Nine sectors reported lower bonuses, including electricity firms that logged an 11.75% drop.
Large companies boosting bonuses
The findings follow a separate survey from the Teikoku Databank that revealed large companies were planning on boosting bonuses at 42.3%, Nippon reported.
According to the report, organisations were raising bonuses due to improving business performance following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
Businesses also cited maintaining employee motivation and reducing financial burden on employees as reasons for the increase.
Employers across Japan are being urged to further raise pay in a bid to improve wage trend, following a 30-year-high average pay hike this year.
Rengo, Japan's largest trade union confederation, said this is because there were some industries that "did not see substantial wage hikes" after the annual spring wage talks or shunto.
This year's shunto delivered an average pay hike of 3.58%, the highest offer from employers in about 30 years.
