Japan Press Weekly

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2013 December 18 - 24 [LABOR]

Increase in non-regular jobs drives down overall wage level

An increase in the number of non-regular workers is applying downward pressure on the overall average wage of workers because the level of wages for non-regular workers is low.

Data released by the Internal Affairs Ministry show that the average annual wage of all workers in 2012 fell by about 700,000 yen from a peak of 4,460,000 yen in 1997. In the meantime, the percentage of non-regular workers out of the total workforce increased to 35.2% from 23.2% during the same period of time. What is more, 76.7% of them received less than 2,000,000 yen in wages last year.

Prime Minister Abe looks to economic recovery by easing corporate burdens and a resultant wage increase. To achieve this, his government is planning to maintain generous tax breaks for large corporations. It is also moving to change labor legislation so that employers can use temporary workers indefinitely.

However, if he really seeks growth driven by higher wages, he should move to increase regular employment, says Akahata.

According to government data, non-regular workers whose annual income in 2012 was 500,000 - 990,000 yen accounted for 29.0% followed by 1,000,000 - 1,490,000 yen at 23.8%, 1,500,000 -1,990,000 yen at 12.6%, and less than 500,000 yen at 11.3%.

As for regular employees, 19.7% earned an annual income in the 3,000,000 yen range. The percentage who earned in the range of 4,000,000 yen and of 5,000,000 yen were 15.2% and 10.8%, respectively.