November 3, 2009

Surveys that the labor ministry released on November 2 show that the average monthly salary in September, including base pay, overtime pay, and bonus, was 266,364 yen or 1.6 percent lower than the same month of last year, posting the 16th straight month of decline.

Overtime pay decreased 12.5 percent from the previous year, reflecting large corporations’ continued labor cost cuts.

The average summer bonus amount, according to another survey, was 363,104 yen, down 9.7 percent from the previous year. It was the largest ever reduction.

In the manufacturing sector, workers received 16.4 percent less in bonus than last year. The rate of business establishments that paid their employees the summer-time bonus also decreased to 66.4 percent from last year’s 70.2 percent.
- Akahata, November 3, 2009