Despite government-led pressure to boost salaries, 72.8% of small and midsize businesses in the Tokyo metropolitan area have no plans to raise wages this year, according to a survey by Johnan Shinkin Bank and the Tokyo Shimbun daily.
The survey conducted earlier this month showed 26.8% planned to raise wages, while 0.4% of the firms did not answer the question regarding wage increases.
Major corporations such as Fast Retailing have already announced wage increases following Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s call for a wage hike that exceeds inflation. But the survey shows that this may prove to be difficult for small and midsize firms, which comprise more than 99% of all businesses in Japan.
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