Japan’s companies have decided to raise wages by 5.25 percent this year. This is the biggest increase since 2013 and comes between companies. The biggest union group in the country, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC), or Rengo, verified the news.
In addition, people are paying close attention to the new wage-hike talks. Blue-chip companies finished their talks first in early March, and they released the findings of these talks in stages.
The second report on the results of the yearly labour talks, which came out on Friday, didn’t change much from the first estimate of 5.28 percent from the week before. This shows how strong wage growth is. A rise of 5.25 percent, or 16,379 yen, or US$108.21 a month, is what was decided upon.
As more organisations, mostly small businesses, come to an understanding on pay between April and June, the average number of pay raises will likely be lower than the first round. This is because more announcements will be made.
On April 4 and 18, when more small firms report their results, more results will be made public.
An important Rengo official, Akira Nidaira, told a news gathering, “At a meeting on April 4, we will look at how far the trend of wage increases is spreading.”
PM Fumio Kishida said that the government expects wage increases to spread to small and medium-sized businesses, which make up 99.7% of all businesses and about 70% of Japan’s workers. The Business Times said that many don’t have the price power to pass on higher costs to customers.
