Japan's Major Employers Plan Further Wage Increases in 2024

Expected pay hikes could provide conditions for Bank of Japan to roll back monetary stimulus.

Japan's major employers are set to follow this year's significant pay increases with another round in 2024, expected to boost household spending and provide the central bank with the conditions needed to roll back massive monetary stimulus.
The head of Suntory Holdings Ltd plans to offer 7,000 employees average monthly pay hikes of 7% in 2024 for the second consecutive year, to retain talent in a tight labour market and offset rising inflation.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is pressuring companies to increase pay to offset the impact of rising living costs on households.
The back-to-back annual pay increases would provide Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda with one of the pre-conditions he needs to dismantle the extreme monetary stimulus of the past decade: sustainable wage growth.
Six out of 10 economists in a Reuters poll expect major firms' pay hikes in 2024 to exceed this year's.