More than half of Japanese companies are planning to raise wages this year, according to a Reuters monthly poll, meeting a key request from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to help workers cope with surging consumer prices.
Kishida's administration has repeatedly urged companies to make strong efforts to lift employee pay, which has failed to keep up with the fastest inflation in 40 years. That push got a boost last week when Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing said it would raise wages as much as 40%.
Ahead of spring shuntō labor negotiations, managers at 24% of the companies polled said they planned on across-the-board bumps in base salary along with regularly scheduled wage increases. Another 29% said they would carry out regular pay increases only, while 38% were undecided.