News Uniqlo to increase wages by up to 40%

[thomas]

Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing will increase annual pay for full-time employees in Japan by up to around 40% in March, closer to the clothier's wages in markets like Europe and the U.S. so that it can deploy talent more flexibly worldwide.

The plan affects around 8,400 people, both at Fast Retailing headquarters and at the company's stores. Starting monthly salaries will increase to 300,000 yen ($2,270), from 255,000 yen currently. Salaries for new store managers, who typically have been at the company for a year or two, will rise to 390,000 yen from 290,000 yen. Fast Retailing raised starting pay in 2020 for certain full-time workers. But this will be the Japanese company's first blanket hike since adopting its current compensation scheme over two decades ago. The retailer also increased hourly wages for part-timers by an average of around 20% in September.

Paywall alert:

Uniqlo operator to boost annual pay in Japan by up to 40%

Fast Retailing expects its labor costs in the country to rise by 15%

asia.nikkei.com

Uniqlo operator to raise annual salaries in Japan by up to 40% - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing Co. said Wednesday it will raise the annual salaries of its workers in Japan by up to 40 percent in Ma

mainichi.jp

Uniqlo Co., Ltd.

Uniqlo Co., Ltd. (株式会社ユニクロ, Kabushiki-Kaisha Yunikuro) is a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. A Yamaguchi-based company, Ogori Shōji (which, until then, had been operating men's clothing shops called...

• JREF
• 11 Jan 2023
• Views: 2K
• Category: Retailing

 

[musicisgood]

Yep. The owner owns his house in Ube. It's near the airport. I wish the clothes were made in Japan though. I feel that their prices are TOO EXPENSIVE.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Do they still have an L.L.Beans in Japan? They seem super expensive , but things I buy there last forever.

 

[Petaris]

Do they still have an L.L.Beans in Japan? They seem super expensive , but things I buy there last forever.


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A lot of L.L. Beans stuff has gotten cheaper made, though not cheaper to buy! They also really re-worked their guarantee, its no longer lifetime just a year for most/all things.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I find very little of what they now carry is made in the US anymore. Many Mainers feel they have become a tourist attraction and are over priced. Years back when they decided handguns were too evil to carry , I quit doing a lot of business with them. My first trip to Beans was in 1955 to get some winter boots. Now my wife drags me there a few times a year because I have a handicap tag and can park close to the entrance , LOL.

 

[Lothor]

It finally seems that the establishment has belatedly realised that the reduced living standards of Japanese people due to low wages is having a catastrophic effect on the country through reduced birth rates, low consumption, migration to better-paying countries and underparticipation in the workforce.

 

[musicisgood]

It finally seems that the establishment has belatedly realised that the reduced living standards of Japanese people due to low wages is having a catastrophic effect on the country through reduced birth rates, low consumption, migration to better-paying countries and underparticipation in the workforce.

Very true.

 

[thomas]

It finally seems that the establishment has belatedly realised that the reduced living standards of Japanese people due to low wages is having a catastrophic effect on the country through reduced birth rates, low consumption, migration to better-paying countries and underparticipation in the workforce.

The unfortunate thing is that it will take decades for any economic or demographic corrections to bear fruits.

 

[Lothor]

The unfortunate thing is that it will take decades for any economic or demographic corrections to bear fruits.

True, but recent government policies focusing on providing more financial support to people who are moving to rural areas, getting pregnant, or raising children are a definite improvement on the 'getting pregnant is your duty to Japan' mentality of politicians in the last decade or so. My concern is that more fundamental reforms needed, such as a review of a juku-based education system that imposes an enormous financial burden on parents, will never happen because so much of the Japanese economy is dependent on the existing system.

 

[thomas]

In an interview with Nikkei, Fast Retailing CEO Tadashi Yanai explained that he hoped the recent decision to raise wages by up to 40% would help Uniqlo and the company's other retailers break a staid status quo. Although Fast Retailing had a standard personnel evaluation system in place globally, it has kept its unique remuneration system for its business in Japan, where pay varies depending on each employee's post and job location. Yanai said the company would abolish these variables and that he failed to see any relevance in determining wages based on age, another hallmark of corporate Japan: "All workers are equal when they are 25 years old or older."

As U.S. tech giants such as Amazon.com and Alphabet, parent of Google and YouTube, lay off employees, Yanai said he intends to poach some talent from these companies. He also hopes the fatter pay packages Fast Retailing is now dangling will help the company lure more young talent, who will eventually encourage the whole company to further develop. "If we have more good talent," Yanai said, "we can make better products," as it battles global retail rivals such as Amazon.com and Zara. [...] Large Japanese companies have traditionally maintained a lifetime employment system, with people spending their entire careers at a single company. Yanai believes this system prevents employees and companies from growing. "Top management should encourage their employees to grow," Yanai said.

Paywall alert:

Uniqlo boss hopes big raises shake up stale corporate culture

Fast Retailing's Tadashi Yanai to lure digital talent from U.S. tech giants

asia.nikkei.com

Meanwhile, according to a Reuters survey, a majority of Japanese companies are planning to raise wages this year.

Ahead of spring shuntō labor negotiations, managers at 24% of the companies polled said they planned on across-the-board bumps in base salary along with regularly scheduled wage increases. Another 29% said they would carry out regular pay increases only, while 38% were undecided.

Majority of Japan firms heed Kishida's call to raise wages this year

The prime minister has repeatedly urged companies to make strong efforts to lift employee pay, which has failed to keep up with the fastest inflation in 40 years.

www.japantimes.co.jp