Tag - wages

 
 

WAGES

New economic revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks during an interview on Tuesday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 10, 2024
Japan is aiming for a growth-oriented economy, new minister says
The new minister also underlined his resolve to attain the government's target of raising the weighted average of minimum wages in the 2020s.
Japan's real wages fell in August year-on-year after turning positive for the previous two months for the first time in more than two years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 8, 2024
Real wages in Japan drop in August after two months of gains
Analysts say that real-wage growth could turn positive again in September, in part due to the reintroduction of electricity bill subsidies.
Keidanren chief Masakazu Tokura (center, left) presents the business lobby group's policy requests to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba alongside the Japan Association of Corporate Executives' Takeshi Niinami (far left) and Ken Kobayashi of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Friday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2024
Japan's three major business lobbies submit policy requests to Ishiba
Ishiba told the three business leaders that ending the Japanese economy's deflationary state is a top priority.
A tea field in Makinohara, the birthplace of Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, in August. The city in Shizuoka Prefecture, which once thrived on a now-declining tea industry, exemplifies disparities between Japan's struggling rural areas and its bustling megacities.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 4, 2024
In Bank of Japan chief's birthplace, Ueda's policy puzzle is laid bare
Makinohara's mayor says the Shizuoka Prefecture surf town is not keeping pace with Japan's broader recovery.
Labor union members rally and call for an increase of the average minimum wage in Tokyo in July.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 2, 2024
Japan’s new prime minister moots minimum wage moon shot
To achieve Ishiba’s target, increases of over 7% a year would be needed, which economists say would be a challenge.
Suntory alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 26, 2024
Suntory to raise monthly wages by 7% in 2025
Suntory will carry out a 7% raise for the third straight year.
A user receives ¥50,000 of their salary through the PayPay app.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2024
SoftBank makes first salary payments via its digital platform PayPay
Employees asking to receive part of their salaries via cashless payment services received the money through the PayPay platform, operated by a SoftBank Group affiliate.
Union members react as Aerospace Machinists District 751 President Jon Holden (out of frame) announces that union members rejected a proposed Boeing contract and will go on strike, following voting results at their union hall in Seattle, Washington, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024
Boeing workers going on strike after 96% vote for walkout
The Boeing workers' last strike in 2008 shuttered plants for 52 days and hit revenue by an estimated $100 million per day.
Labor market reform will likely be a hot economic debate topic in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, the campaign of which kicked off on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2024
Labor market reform becoming hot topic in LDP leadership race
Candidates differ in how they intend to tackle labor market issues, especially on whether to give firms more flexibility in the dismissing of workers.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. The BOJ was seen as having contributed to the global market meltdown in early August after its 0.25% hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 6, 2024
BOJ’s hiking pace may be faster than expected, ex-official says
While almost no economists expect the BOJ to adjust its benchmark rate on Sept. 20, many BOJ watchers expect another rate hike by January.
Real cash earnings for workers in Japan climbed 0.4% in July from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2024
Japan real wages unexpectedly rise, keeping BOJ on hike path
Real cash earnings for workers climbed 0.4% in July from a year earlier, the labor ministry has reported.
Japanese workers in their 40s and 50s — known as the "lost generation" — saw their wages rise slightly in the second quarter.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2024
Japan’s 'lost generation' gets a raise, and the economy, a small boost
The pay bump in the second quarter is vitally important to the economy, as consumption by Japanese workers in their 40s and 50s is an important driver of growth.
The government made it mandatory for companies to disclose their gender pay gap in 2022, but disclosure alone isn’t enough to improve the situation, data suggests.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2024
Disclosure rules fail to narrow Japan’s yawning gender pay gap
There has been little progress toward equality, with the highest-paying firms showing some of the biggest disparities.
Japan is facing a pilot shortage, but hiring foreign pilots is not easy due to opposition from unions. Japanese carriers also typically pay less than airlines elsewhere.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 28, 2024
Pilot shortage threatens Japan’s goal for 60 million tourists
Falling short may mean missing out on lucrative tourism money as carriers simply can’t find the crew to fly the necessary number of planes.
Mizuho Financial Group changed its personnel system in July to "role-based pay" that makes salary increases possible regardless of age or number of years in the company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 21, 2024
Japan banks moving away from seniority-based personnel system
Major banks are attaching more importance to employees' roles as banking operations have diversified.
Japan’s civil servants will likely see the biggest salary increases in over three decades in the current fiscal year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2024
Japan’s public servants may see biggest pay hike in 32 years
The Finance Ministry estimates that implementing these recommendations could increase the financial burden of sustain services by roughly ¥382 billion ($2.6 billion).
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2024
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
While the sharp increase will be a big boost for workers, smaller firms already struggling financially will be put under further stress.
Some economists say a sticky weak yen trend would have a negative impact on Japan's real wage growth.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 24, 2024
Yen rally could help end crushing wage decay in Japan
The Japan Research Institute anticipates real wage growth turning positive in the July-September quarter assuming ¥155 to the dollar.
More Japanese firms have gone bankrupt in the first half of this year due to soaring costs, labor shortages and the end of pandemic-related support.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2024
Triple whammy takes Japan bankruptcies to decade high
Soaring costs, labor shortages and the end of pandemic-related financial support are taking a heavy toll on smaller businesses.
Unionists hold a rally in Tokyo in April. Households' real cash earnings have been falling year on year for more than two years, with the weakening of the yen making the situation only more difficult as prices of imported goods increase rapidly.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 17, 2024
Japan’s minimum wage might not budge much if corporate fears prevail
While households desperately need a big raise, smaller businesses might not be in a position to handle an increase as they struggle with the weak yen.

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