News Hourly minimum wage in Japan expected to rise by 'at least' 30 yen

[thomas]

Currently, the minimum wage (the minimum hourly wage applied to all worker) and the national average currently stands at 930 JPY (about 7 USD). The national council, comprising representatives of labour and management and expert council members, presents guidelines every year, and prefectural councils across the country use them to determine the minimum wage in those areas.

Since 25 July, no concrete discussions had been conducted, and so the labor ministry and other parties continued negotiations behind the scenes. As a result, it is expected that the national weighted average of the minimum wage will be increased by at least 30 JPY (0.23 USD), taking into consideration price increases and the fact that wages have also been increasing at small- and medium-sized businesses. Guidelines for the minimum wage are usually settled between mid and late July each year. Last year, under the political leadership of then Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who was enthusiastic about raising the minimum wage, an increase of 28 JPY per hour was fixed, which was the highest hike ever at the time. The management side complained about this decision, however, and took the unusual move of calling for a vote.

Minimum wage in Japan expected to rise by 'at least' 30 yen, biggest hike ever - The Mainichi

TOKYO -- A subcommittee of the Central Minimum Wage Council has entered final arrangements to raise the weighted average of Japan's minimum wage in fi

mainichi.jp

Thirty yen an hour. At the same time, we see news such as this one:

While the number of highly paid directors was increasing, salaries of regular employees didn't increase much, Tokyo Shoko Research found. A record 287 companies had a director or directors whose remuneration was more than 100 million yen. This was 34 more than the previous fiscal year. Hitachi Ltd. had the largest number of such directors for the third consecutive year. In the latest statistics, the company was shown to be paying 18 directors more than 100 million yen, three more than the previous fiscal year. At Toshiba Corp., 13 directors were paid more than 100 million yen, significantly more than just the one director in the previous fiscal year. Among 14 companies ranking in the top 10 firms with the largest number of directors earning at least 100 million yen, the number of such directors increased from the previous fiscal year at 10 of them.

Record number of directors earn more than 100 million yen | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[Petaris]

To be fair, its a huge burden to even pay that much more per hour to your employees when your executives and shareholders need that second private jet......

 

[nice gaijin]

Ahhh this makes me feel feelings about stuff.

One of these days there won't be anything left to eat but the rich.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Then again , we may be eaten by the rich , LOL.

 

[thomas]

That 30-yen increase in the hourly minimum wage is just part of the subcommittee's recommendation and has not yet been agreed on. If I wouldn't know better, I'd say these headlines are sheer sarcasm: "Japan's planned record minimum wage hike opens the path to sustained GDP growth."

The health ministry formally approved a recommendation by its sub-committee that the average minimum wage for the current fiscal year ending in March 2023 be raised by 31 yen, or a record 3.3%, from the current level to 961 yen ($7.30) per hour, two ministry officials told Reuters. [...] "Given the underlying inflation of over 2% and Japan's growth potential of around 1%, the pace of minimum wage hikes is reasonable, reflecting the premier's commitment to higher wages," said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

Japan's planned record minimum wage hike opens path to sustained GDP growth

Japan's average minimum wage is set to rise at a record pace this year, the government said on Tuesday, a positive development for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's efforts to cushion households from global commodity inflation.

www.reuters.com

I wish politicians and market economists were paid minimum hourly wages for a while to experience the "trickle-down" firsthand.

 

[Petaris]

I went to the supermarket yesterday and, while it has been three years since the last time I was in Japan, my goodness how the prices have risen. A 30 JPY raise per hour is really just insulting.

 

[Uncle Frank]

My town of Portland , Maine wants to raise the minimum wage to 2429Y per hour. Small business owners will hurt and when prices get passed on to consumers , they will go to nearby towns to save money.

 

[thomas]

I went to the supermarket yesterday and, while it has been three years since the last time I was in Japan, my goodness how the prices have risen. A 30 JPY raise per hour is really just insulting.

Oh, I just noticed the little Japanese flag under your avatar!

Any items in particular? Apart from electricity and fuel, it isn't easy to notice increases in daily life, as it's 10 yen here, 20 yen there. Only price increases on iconic products (such as this one) make it into the news.

 

[nice gaijin]

My town of Portland , Maine wants to raise the minimum wage to 2429Y per hour. Small business owners will hurt and when prices get passed on to consumers , they will go to nearby towns to save money.

That seems like a bad idea, how are people supposed to live in Maine if they get paid in yen?

 

[Petaris]

Oh, I just noticed the little Japanese flag under your avatar!

Any items in particular? Apart from electricity and fuel, it isn't easy to notice increases in daily life, as it's 10 yen here, 20 yen there. Only price increases on iconic products (such as this one) make it into the news.

Bread, bottled drinks ( tea, coffee, etc), and the ready made foods ( coroque, fried chicken, etc) were especially noticable. I would guess two factors are at play here, one is that this is a more rural supermarket and there isn't any close competition, the second is that I wonder if the prices of these have increased little by little over the last few years and seeing the price jump from that visit to this one is more impactful than experiencing the smaller changes over a longer period.

 

[Lothor]

Because labour laws are weakly enforced and Japanese people tend to be reluctant to assert their rights, the lowest-paid workers are not necessarily going to see this extra money.