Summer bonuses for workers in Japan are going down this year, for the first time in three years.
The Nikkei surveyed a total of 3,749 listed companies and major unlisted firms. Final results, from 618 companies, indicated that summer bonuses are down 3.25% on last year, at an average of 711,812 yen (about US$9,000). The decline is due in part to weak earnings in the auto and electronic industries.
Summer bonuses in the manufacturing sector average 2.89% less than a year earlier because of rough markets for major industries. The non-manufacturing sector’s average summer bonus dropped 4.37% compared to last year because of a slowdown in electric power and construction industries.
Despite bleak earnings from the last fiscal year, many companies see a positive outlook for the current fiscal year. Canon Inc., which projects sales and profit growth this year, has the highest summer bonus averaging 1.14 million yen. Sekisui House Ltd. comes in second at 1.13 million yen, followed by Rohm Co. at 1.09 million yen, according to The Nikkei.
