In Japan, more companies plan to raise wages in 2024, with the majority doing so at a rate close to that of 2023.
Tokyo Shōkō Research polled 4,581 companies in Japan from December 1 to 11 last year, and found that 82.9% (or 3,799 respondents) plan to raise pay in 2024. 51.5% of respondents plan to boost salaries to keep up with those in 2023, 19.7% will raise wages less, and 11.6% will raise wages more. In contrast, 17% of those polled said they have no intentions to boost wages for workers this year.
Big companies accounted for 14.1% of organizations that want to raise wages in 2024, whereas small and medium-sized businesses accounted for 11.3%. Small and medium-sized businesses accounted for 17.9% of all companies that had no intention of raising salaries, nearly twice as many as large corporations (9.2%).
“Many small and medium-sized enterprises have been unable to shake free of slumping business performance, making it difficult to raise wages,” stated Tokyo Shōkō Research.
When sectors were compared, the real estate industry had the largest percentage of companies planning pay increases over 2023—17.5 percent, or 19 out of 108 organizations. The information and telecommunications sector comes in second at 15.6%, followed by the service sector at 13.1%.
Nippon.com reported that the financial and insurance industry had the highest percentage of companies whose wage rises would probably be smaller than any wage increase in 2023, at 42.4%.
