Major Japanese companies agreed to raise monthly wages by an average of 5.58%, or ¥19,480, during this spring’s labor-management wage talks, according to the first count by the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren.
The result, announced Monday, easily surpassed last year’s increase of 3.91%, or ¥13,110, and surpassed 4% for the first time since 1992, when the first average wage increase was 4.78%, or ¥12,893. amounted to. The amount of the wage increase was the highest since the current census method was adopted in 1976.
A Keidanren official said the survey results highlight the impact of the business lobby’s calls to increase momentum for wage increases.
During this year’s wage talks, the labor market demanded larger wage increases than those of the previous year, due to inflation and labor shortages. A number of large companies have fully accepted these requests. Some companies promised higher wage growth than unions are demanding.
With the exception of the trucking sector, companies in fifteen industrial sectors agreed to wage increases that were higher than those of the previous year.
The average wage increase in the steel industry was 12.04%, much higher than last year’s 2.77%. Until last year, major companies in the steel industry held wage negotiations once every two years.
The average wage increase was 6.85% in the machinery and metals sector, compared to 5.22%, 6.07% in the shipbuilding industry, compared to 3.67%, and 6.02% in the non-ferrous metal industry, compared to 4.31 %.
On the other hand, the average rate of increase in the freight transport sector was 3.13%, compared to 4.00%.
The count included 89 companies in 16 sectors that responded to a survey of 244 large companies in 22 sectors.
Keidanren will announce his final result in the summer.
