More large Japanese companies are now raising wages to attract workers and cope with chronic staff shortages, a monthly Reuters poll showed on Thursday, a tentative sign Japan Inc. may be slowly addressing pay that has been flat for decades.
Still, the Corporate Survey found that higher wages aren't yet the go-to tactic for companies, with digitalization seen as the most popular among the multiple measures firms say they are using to address the labor crunch.
Japanese companies have typically avoided boosting wages because decades of deflation made it difficult to pass on higher costs to consumers. That might now be changing as the double whammy of higher commodities prices and a weaker yen drive up living costs and highlight the strain on workers. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has also called on companies to hike wages.