Major Japanese Firms Agree to Raise Pay by 5.58%

Jiji Press

18:03 JST, May 20, 2024

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Major Japanese companies agreed to raise monthly pay by 5.58%, or ¥19,480, on average in this year’s “shunto” spring labor-management wage talks, the first tally by the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, showed Monday.

The result far exceeded last year’s rise of 3.91%, or ¥13,110, and topped 4% for the first time since 1992, when the average rose 4.78%, or ¥12,893.

In this year’s shunto, the labor side demanded bigger pay increases than the previous year due to inflation and labor shortages.

A number of major companies fully accepted these requests. Some companies promised higher wage growth than demanded by labor unions.

The tally covered 89 companies in 16 sectors.