How Wages and Work Styles Change ~ From a survey of 100 companies in Spring Fight ~ January 30 22:15

Can the momentum of wage increases be maintained? NHK conducted a survey of 100 major companies in January before the spring fight. Based on the results, we will explore the whereabouts of the spring fight that has actually started. (Economic Ministry reporter Yosuke Ikegawa)

6 companies considering "Bear"

NHK conducted a questionnaire survey on wages, business conditions, employment, etc. from 100 major Japanese companies, including manufacturers and retailers, from September 9 to 23, and received responses from all companies.

First, let's look at the concept of wage increase, which is the main focus of spring fighting. Here is the result.

The first thing we focused on to see if wage increases continued was the response to the "bear." "Bear" is an abbreviation of "base-up" and means raising the base of salary, that is, the basic salary. Unlike "Regular raises", where salaries increase according to age and length of service, Bear raises salaries themselves, and bonuses and benefits increase accordingly.

As a result, six companies have raised the basic salary of their employees. It is not possible to simply compare because the target companies are partially different, but it was half last year. Bears, which are limited to specific classes, such as child-raising generation, also fell below last year.

In this spring fight, the union plans to demand a wage increase of about 2%, equivalent to "bear", but the survey results show that companies are cautious about bear. You.

Business sentiment, most flat

Behind the scene is uncertainty about the outlook for the economy.

Among the respondents who asked about the reasons for the domestic economy after the Tokyo Olympics, which were “flat” and “gradually worsening” in multiple responses, the most frequent was “slow growth in personal consumption” and “the economic effects of the Olympics disappeared. And concerns over the prolonged trade friction between the United States and China.

At the same time, there is growing concern that the spread of the new coronavirus will adversely affect the economy, suggesting that companies are becoming cautious about raising wages amid growing uncertainty over the outlook for the economy.

The idea of ​​a “Japanese-style employment” company is

In this spring fight, Keidanren has also launched a review of the Japanese-style employment system, including recruitment of new graduates and seniority-based wages. I heard about the company's thoughts on this.

Forty-five companies rated seniority-based wages as "need to be reviewed," while 19 companies "reviewed" and "consider" collective graduate recruitment. There are 27 companies that "review" lifetime employment, and fewer respondents "review" compared to seniority-based wages.

Careful for quick review?

Compared to seniority-based wages, there is a tendency of companies to carefully consider whether to review lifetime employment and collective recruitment of new graduates, but why?

In fact, the review of seniority-based wages has been gradually in progress among major companies about ten years ago. Even if their skills are high, if wages are reduced because they are young, not only will they become disadvantaged in the global talent competition, but there is also a sense of danger that excellent young human resources will flow to overseas and foreign-affiliated companies. Because there is.

On the other hand, collective recruitment of new graduates and lifetime employment allow companies to recruit employees systematically and develop them over a long period of time, which has also supported high-quality production. For employees, there are many opinions that value Japanese-style employment, which leads to a sense of security in employment and life, makes it easier to draw a life plan, and has benefits for both labor and management. This seems to have led to the company's desire to respond cautiously.

Regarding this, Dr. Hisashi Yamada of the Japan Research Institute, which is familiar with employment issues, points out that:

Senior Researcher Hisashi Yamada said, “Employees of Japanese companies have long been hired to produce competitive, high-quality products. The employment system is expected to increase, and the two systems may coexist. "

Changing Spring Fight

In this spring fight, the union is committed to a uniform bear, but there are some movements to watch out for.

In general, union negotiations stated that bears were basically a uniform raise, but Toyota unions were not uniform bearers, but said that they would propose a new way to differentiate according to personnel evaluations. The response is based on the current situation in the fiercely competitive automotive industry, such as autonomous driving and electrification, but attention is also being paid to whether such new developments will spread.

I hope that this spring struggle will deepen the discussion between labor and management, not only about wage levels, but also about the employment system in the new era and the style of spring struggle itself.

Economic Department Reporter Yosuke Ikegawa