Major Japan Firms’ Average Winter Bonus Tops 1 M. Yen

Tokyo, Dec. 24 (Jiji Press)–This year’s winter bonuses at large companies in Japan averaged 1,004,841 yen, topping 1 million yen for the first time since comparable data became available in 1981, a survey showed Wednesday. The average rose 8.57 pct from a year before, up for the fourth consecutive year, according to the survey conducted by the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren. The pace of increase was the second-fastest on record, after 8.92 pct in 2022. The previous record high was 951,411 yen, marked in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest results reflected “robust earnings mainly in the manufacturing industry,” a Keidanren official said. The average “hit a record high, as it did in the summer,” the official also said. “We confirmed that strong momentum for wage hikes has taken root.” Bonuses among manufacturers averaged 1,056,966 yen, up 10.09 pct, with the average rising 18.88 pct in the oil sector, 17.25 pct in the automobile sector and 12.25 pct in the chemical sector. The average for nonmanufacturers climbed 5.78 pct to 896,495 yen, with the commercial industry posting a 14.72 pct rise and the railway industry a 9.14 pct increase. The survey covered companies with at least 500 employees in principle, with responses from 164 companies across 22 industries, representing about 973,000 workers. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]