INTERVIEW: Nippon Life Plans to Raise Wages by 6 Pct or More

Tokyo, Dec. 22 (Jiji Press)–Nippon Life Insurance Co. is considering increasing wages for its 40,000 sales representatives by at least 6 pct in fiscal 2026 starting next April, a major pay hike for the second consecutive year, Nippon Life President Satoshi Asahi said in a recent interview. In addition, the insurer plans to raise the starting salaries for fresh salespersons by up to 16,000 yen per month. Over 10 billion yen will be used for four years in a row for pay increases because “it’s important to keep raising wages to retain workforce for a long time,” Asahi stressed. On Nippon Life’s acquisition of U.S. peer Resolution Life Group Holdings Ltd. in October, he expressed hope for synergy effects. Specifically, his company aims to make its back-office operations highly efficient by capitalizing on the U.S. partner’s expertise in artificial intelligence, envisaging, among others, that AI with a full understanding of policy clauses responds to customer questions, Asahi said. The Nippon Life chief gave a renewed apology for his firm’s employees on loan to financial institutions stealing the financiers’ insider information. “We had created a situation in which the employees were pressured to collect information,” he explained. Taking the blame for the scandal, which came to light in July, Asahi vowed to implement thorough preventive measures. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]