TOKYO- Japan’s big companies are expected to deliver the largest pay rise in 26 years in next week’s “shunto” wage negotiations, offering policymakers hope the country might finally emerge from its deflationary doldrums.
But the expected average salary hike of around 3 percent will likely include just a 1 percent increase in base pay, casting doubt on whether Japan can achieve the kind of sustained wage gains the central bank sees as key to stably hitting its 2 percent inflation target.
The outcome of “shunto” wage talks with unions, many of which conclude on March 15, will be crucial to how soon the Bank of Japan (BOJ) could end its bond yield control policy under incoming governor Kazuo Ueda.
It will also test Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s flagship “new capitalism” policy that aims to more widely distribute wealth among households by prodding firms to hike pay.
Hopes are running high that Japan, which has seen wages stagnate for nearly three decades, will finally see change as companies face pressure to beat a labor crunch and compensate employees for inflation running well above the BOJ’s target.
World’s largest car maker Toyota accepted a union demand for the biggest base salary growth in 20 years, while gaming giant Nintendo plans to lift base pay by 10 percent.
Big firms will offer on average pay rises of 2.85 percent for the financial year beginning in April, which would be the fastest pace of increase since 1997, a survey by the Japan Economic Research Center (JERC) showed in January.
The gain will comprise a 1.08 percent rise in base pay and a 1.78 percent increase in additional salary based on seniority, it said.
Such hikes would meet Kishida’s calls for companies to offer annual wage hikes of 3 percent, but miss an ambitious goal of a 5 percent pay increase demanded by Japan’s labor umbrella Rengo.
Some analysts doubt whether smaller firms at the end of the supply chain can follow suit, as stubbornly high raw material costs erode their margin.
More than 70 percent of small firms have no plan to raise wages, according to a January poll by the Jonan Shinkin Bank and the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper.
There is also uncertainty on whether companies will keep hiking wages as much next year and beyond.
After hitting a nearly 42-year high of 4.3 percent in January, core consumer inflation in Japan’s capital Tokyo – a leading indicator of nationwide trends – slowed to 3.3 percent in February as the spike in fuel import costs moderated.
The BOJ expects core consumer inflation to slow back below its 2 percent target towards the year-end, which will take some pressure off firms to keep hiking pay next year.
“Certainly, wages are expected to swing upward considerably in this year’s spring wage talks, but this will be very transitory,” said former BOJ board member TakahideKiuchi, who is now executive economist at Nomura Research Institute.
“A virtuous cycle between wages and prices is unlikely,” he said of the chance Japan can achieve a combination of rising prices and higher wages – a condition the BOJ sees crucial in heading for an exit from its ultra-loose policy. — Reuters
