Japanese firms raise wages to attract workers

Japanese companies are now raising wages to attract workers to combat labour shortages. The move is also in response to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s call on companies to hike wages. A survey of 495 big non-financial firms highlighted what appeared to be a growing willingness by companies to increase wages. The hiking of wages or starting salaries was picked by 44% of respondents as one of the multiple tactics they were adopting. The figure compares to just 25% of companies that said in a 2017 corporate survey that they would increase salaries. The dwindling pool of workers has been a concern for years in Japan and has served as a cautionary tale for other advanced economies including Europe.