The majority, or 63.0%, of corporate executives in Japan said wage increases are difficult without company growth, according to a survey from Japanese staffing firm Persol Holdings.

The 63% figure exceeds the 6.4% who said company growth is difficult without wage increases.

Meanwhile, 38% of executives said wage increases are an investment" while 18% said a wage increase is a cost increase.

Persol’s research also found that the percentage of staff whose wages have increased from last year to this year is higher for regular employees than for non-regular employees.

When asked how their wages changed compared to the previous year (2021), those who did not change their place of work or employment status, the largest number of respondents who answered "Increase" were "regular employees (44.6%).

When compared to non-regular employees such as “part-time workers (33.5%)”, “temporary employees (27.8%)”, and “contract/fixed-term employees (30.3%)”, regular employees were more likely to have their wages increased.

In terms of wage satisfaction, for regular employees 37.4% were satisfied while 37.0% were dissatisfied. For part-time workers 35.0% were satisfied and 35.7% dissatisfied. Dissatisfaction also outweighs satisfaction among temporary employees (46.6% dissatisfied vs 24.9% satisfied) and contract/temporary employees (50.4% dissatisfied vs 25.9% satisfied).