Job Change in Japan and Pay Increases: Updated March 16, 2025.

35% of people who changed jobs in Japan saw 10%-plus pay raise at smaller firms in FY23.

Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250305/p2a/00m/0bu/020000c

Ideas:
It's possible those who received pay raises at small and mid-size firms, might have been unhappy working at a large Japanese company and or the lower wages and the benefits too was not to their liking.

And as the article suggests, small and mid-size firms know they need to increase their salaries, so they can to attract the best possible workers for their company.

The challenge is of course, that maybe many small and mid-size companies don't have the resources to match the large companies or even out-bid them for the workers they need.

At the same time, its very possible that workers in Japan are not looking of the large company experience and want a different experience with maybe a better work-life, but then again, the article does suggest that the workers who did switch to a small company did actually get a higher salary.

Large Japanese companies get all the news and small and mid-size companies rarely get any news, but that is also global as large companies are always in the news like almost everyday it seems.

Small and mid-size companies, if they have the needed resources are looking for the best candidate for the company and seem to be willing to match what large companies pay or even pay more than the large companies to get the workers they need.

But unfortunately not all small and midsize companies have the resources needed to hire who they want or need, have to take those they can get, as their profits margins just can't handle large wage increases.

Its quite possible the major tourism boom that is going on in Japan now might be helping the hiring boom among small and midsize businesses, as they need to hire more workers to handle the record number of tourists coming to Japan, along with the possible change in the Japanese economy with more people out and about now spending.

As far as the need for IT professionals, all companies now need IT workers and not just IT companies and more and more companies are relying on artificial intelligence to help them be more efficient in the workplace.

Its been estimated that up to 70 percent of the Japanese workforce doesn't work at the large name brand companies but small and midsize companies, and as such the small and mid-size companies, like other economies globally, are the real back-bone of an economy.

Its possible that the large name-brand Japanese companies only hire in April the beginning of the fiscal year in Japan, which, to be competitive and to attract the workers they need, small and mid-size companies might be hiring workers year round to get who they need, instead of waiting until April.

Also small and mid-size companies might be hiring mid-career workers who are very experienced instead of the usual recent college graduates, and mid-career highers might be more reliable and have needed work experience.

Unfortunately, not all is rosy for many small and mid-size companies as the Japanese economy is facing a so-called labor shortage as some companies can't find the workers they need and or can't afford to pay the wages or salaries that workers want to change jobs.

So while some small and mid-size companies might be doing much better and can offer salaries better than the large Japanese companies, they might be a minority as small and mid-size companies have major challenges trying to attract the workers they need.

Have a nice day!