Contrary to the Prime Minister’s call, the Japan Business Federation says it is difficult to set a blanket level of salary increases for all companies.
A specific target of pay hikes that member firms should adopt was not specified, considering the varying pace of earnings recovery of companies.
The goal of teleworking is to maintain the same level of socio-economic activities in a time when rapid spread of COVID-19 is expected.
Companies which are making profits are encouraged to increase workers’ salaries during the upcoming wage negotiations.
Panasonic Corp has joined a small, but growing, number of Japanese companies to offer staff a four-day workweek to encourage better work-life balance.
The ratio of eligible male workers who took childcare leave in fiscal 2020 exceeded 30% in 42 of the country’s 100 leading companies.
Japan’s major business organisations want companies to spur economic growth, and to view the pandemic as a business opportunity.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has reiterated his call to business groups and unions to "boldly reverse" a downtrend in workers' wages.
The majority of companies surveyed by Kyodo News expects Japan to register positive economic growth in 2022.
Despite calls for firms to raise pay by more than 3%, only 18% have indicated that they will do so at the upcoming wage negotiations.
This is to prevent larger firms from taking advantage of their size and setting unfairly low prices when engaging in business with subcontractors.
This has seen the unemployment rate rise to 2.8% in November, an increase of 0.1 percentage point month-on-month.
The number of fresh graduates who landed jobs fell to 432,790, with employment offers declining in some sectors due to the spread of COVID-19.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he would do everything possible to create an environment for firms to raise wages.
To cover most of the supplementary budget, the government will have to issue new bonds worth 22.1 trillion yen by March 2021.
However, the group will still encourage companies that have recovered their earnings to raise wages in line with government recommendations.
About 54% of companies plan to keep salaries, including bonuses, unchanged next fiscal year, 4% plan to cut them and 42% expect to raise wages.
The government is encouraging smaller companies to raise staff salaries with tax deductions of up to 40%, and 30% for bigger companies.
The government wants greater premium payments from employers and employees as the employment insurance system is running low on funds.
In wage negotiations held earlier this year, businesses had agreed to an average 1.78% wage hike, in response to expectations of a 4% pay hike.
Government data has shown that the country’s jobless rate fell to 2.7% in October, decreasing by 0.1 percentage point month-on-month.
The government is considering granting a tax break for companies which raise salaries of all employees, including new and non-regular workers.
A Japanese labour ministry survey has found that the prolonged pandemic is still dampening wage hikes for workers in affected sectors.
A recent government survey showed that slightly more than half of workers who have changed jobs have found more rewarding careers.
The package has been reported to include cash support for small companies, as well as pay raises for nurses and care workers.
To help non-regular workers affected by the pandemic, several hundred billion yen has been set aside to implement a job-transfer-support project.
Chairman of the Japan Business Federation also backed the call, encouraging profit-earning firms to increase workers’ wages.
Cash payouts worth 100,000 yen (US$884) each will be delivered to students, temporary workers and low-income households hit hardest by COVID-19.
The government had earlier urged businesses to help achieve its target of cutting commuters by 70% and to support telework as an alternative.
A governmental economic-policy panel has proposed a fresh stimulus package, including shoring up support for companies increasing employee salaries.
