Softbank Corp. said Friday it will pay a ¥1 million bonus to any of its employees who score 900 points or more in the TOEIC English-language proficiency test, starting this month.
Those who score between 800 to 899 will each receive a ¥300,000 bonus, said Softbank spokeswoman Hiroe Kotera. The maximum score on the Test of English for International Communication is 990 points.
By incentivizing workers to enhance their English skills, Softbank aims to increase the number of its workers fluent in the language as it expands overseas. In October, Softbank surprisingly announced that it will acquire Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest cellphone carrier in the U.S.