© Reuters. Female office workers wearing high heels, clothes and bags of the same colour are seen at a business district in Tokyo, Japan, June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Kentaro Sugiyama
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s big employers are set to follow this year’s bumper pay hikes with another round in 2024, which are expected to help lift household spending and give the central bank the conditions it needs to finally roll back massive monetary stimulus.
Early indications from businesses, unions and economists suggest the labour and cost pressures that set the stage for this year’s pay hikes – the largest in more than three decades – will persist heading into next year’s key spring wage talks.
The head of major beverage maker Suntory Holdings Ltd, for example, plans to offer 7,000 employees average monthly pay hikes of 7% in 2024 for the second straight year, to retain talent in a tight labour market and offset rising inflation.
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company intends to raise annual pay by 7% on average for about 10,000 employees from next April, while electronics retailer Bic Camera is set to raise 4,600 full-timers’ pay by up to 16%.
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