More than 80% of Japanese Companies Plan to Raise Wages in 2024

An online survey conducted by Tokyo Shōkō Research of 4,581 companies between December 1 and 11 found that 82.9% of the companies, or 3,799, plan to raise wages in 2024. The majority, at 51.5%, plan to implement a wage increase on par with that of 2023, while 19.7% intend to implement a smaller wage increase and 11.6% a larger one. Meanwhile, 17.0% of the companies surveyed said that they had no prospect to be able to raise wages.

Among companies intending to raise wages higher than in 2024, 14.1% were large companies (capitalized at ¥100 million or more) and 11.3% were small to medium-sized enterprises (capitalized at less than ¥100 million). Meanwhile, 17.9% of companies with no prospect to raise wages were small or medium-sized enterprises, nearly twice the 9.2% among large companies. In analyzing the survey results, Tokyo Shōkō Research commented that “many small and medium-sized enterprises have been unable to shake free of slumping business performance, making it difficult to raise wages.”

By industry, the real-estate sector had the highest percentage of companies intending to raise wages higher than in 2023, at 17.5% (19 of the 108 companies), followed by the information and telecommunications industry at 15.6% and the service industry at 13.1%. Meanwhile, the finance and insurance sector had the highest percentage of companies whose wage increases would likely be less than in 2023, at 42.4%.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)