Japanese Undergrad Salaries: Updates Feb. 24, 2025.

Japanese undergrads want at least $1,650 month starting salary: survey

Article Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250213/p2a/00m/0bu/034000c

Commentary:
Japanese salaries in Japan seem to be much lower than starting salaries for new undergraduates who are getting their first full-time job in the US. As each country of course is different US first-time students wouldn't even consider the same salary as given in Japan.

What goes into to salary also in Japan is free housing or living in a company dormitory at many large Japanese companies and or many Japanese first-time graduates live at home, with their parents, which reduces the cost of living in Japan.

As Japan is in a so-called labor shortage Japanese companies, especially large companies, are increasing salaries to try and get the best talent possible in Japan.

Once again, as with other surveys in Japan, recently, the size of the respondents was quite small but since this is not a scientific survey the number is relatively realistic as it gives some ideas to what students think and feel.

Japanese students are probably used to the low starting salaries, as again, most US students and probably most EU students would not accept such as low starting salary.

Back in the day, it used to be thought of that Japanese companies would take care of their employees through their life-time or what was considered life-time employment, working for one company only, but those days are long gone as Japanese companies like other companies, globally, lay-off workers and don't give the same support as before.

Employee benefits have become a major category that new graduates look for a good starting salary is just a given as new graduates are looking for other factors for a job, such maybe better work-life benefits such as less over-time or less weekend work.

Another factor they are looking for is job content which means variety in their jobs and not just sitting a cubicle 8 to 9 hours everyday doing the exact same thing five days week.

Of course job stability is always ranked high as graduates want a stable company to work for and not a company that is going to lay-off workers or a company that is going shut-down in a year.

Graduate students should be able to get a higher salary and 300,000 is a reasonable request in Japan, but of course in the US it would still too low.

However, unfortunately, in the OECD, Japan has some of the lowest salaries for company workers, but Japanese companies are trying to remedy the situation now.

Will Japanese companies ever have the same salaries as US companies. Its not likely as the economic structure of Japanese society and economy probably can't support US style salaries.

Not to say anything bad about Japan and its graduates but the mindset of the Japanese graduates and the US graduates seem to be different and maybe the Japanese students are just happy to get a job and the minimum staring salary of 250,000 seems OK with them, while in the US a new graduate would not even consider that salary.

It doesn't mean Japanese graduates don't have ambitions its just the salary structure in Japan is much different. Now if you add in the two bonuses that companies give, such as in the winter and spring, which is like monthly salaries, in the spring and summer, so its like 14 months of salaries for Japanese undergraduates.

And Japanese graduates are looking for other things such as rewards for their work achievement and not just a system of seniority that just rewards the number of years worked for a company, which means young graduates, back in the day, really didn't get a kind for recognition for the work until they had been at the company for many years.

And of course increases in salaries or raises and maybe, again, increasing salaries based on their achievements and not just based on years worked for a company.

In response to the article about suspicious high salaries it mean that a company might offer a higher salary but at the same time unreasonable hours or other expectations not to the liking of new graduates.

For example company stability seem to be a common theme among many graduates as the want to work for a company that is not going to give a lot of lay-offs are go out of business anytime soon.

Also, job content, or job variety seems to be important with new graduates these days and or job jobs that are meaning full and not just sitting at the company office in a cubicle for 8 or 9 hours a day for 5 or 6 days a week.

And there is the new trend of work-life balance, that maybe wasn't important for many in Japan, back in the day, but these days young graduates don't want to same work experience what their fathers went though for many years of just working for company with no home-life or being able to do anything but work.

Graduate students, maybe have had some work experience already and know what they want besides a good starting salary, which is always a given.

Again, job content, meaning meaningful work might be very important for graduate students, as maybe some of them had worked for a company that didn't prioritize meaningful work and they don't want the same thing as before.

And yes, comprehensive benefits are even more important for graduates as they want a company that gives a lot of benefits besides just a salary.

And even more, better work-life support is even more important these days, as again, the don't want the same experience as what their fathers went through of working 6 days a week with very little or no vacation time.

Japanese workers see what workers, globally, are doing such as in the EU with a lot of vacation time and or the US with much higher salaries with good benefits and they want the same thing these days.

The days of working excessive hours and or no vacations is a thing of the past, even in Japan, as Japanese companies now see that young graduates are a different breed of worker and they can't keep offering the same bland job or salaries or even less work-life experiences and new Japanese workers, might start for a company, but with a labor shortage these days, they can now easily quit and find and new job quickly which forces companies to cater to what young workers want and need today.

Have a nice day!