This year, the average summer bonus at Japanese large corporations topped 1 million yen for the first time. With wage hikes to secure talent coinciding with improved corporate results, it hit a record high.
Keidanren said on the 6th that a survey of 163 large corporations with 500 or more employees found this year's summer bonus averaged 1,042,537 yen per person (about 9.35 million won). That is up 7.04% from a year earlier and the most since the survey began in 1981.
By industry, 17 of 22 sectors saw bonuses rise from a year earlier. Manufacturing increased 6.23% to 1,093,629 yen, while nonferrous and metals rose 21.64% to 1,125,131 yen.
Bonuses in construction surged 59.59% to 2,026,633 yen. This is the first time the average bonus by industry has exceeded 2 million yen.
Keidanren analyzed that the result reflects a growing number of corporations paying bonuses linked to corporate performance and a broader move to increase payouts on the back of solid results. The fact that many corporations raised base pay in this year's spring wage talks also had an effect.
However, because this tally does not cover all workers in Japan, there is a large gap with small and midsize corporations and nonregular workers.