Daiwa Securities Plans Significant Wage Increase

By Anton Bridge and Miho Uranaka

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's Daiwa Securities aims to raise wages by at least 5%, its CEO said, a faster rate than many expected as the country's shrinking labor pool intensifies competition for talent.

Daiwa is discussing a pay raise for the financial year starting April 2025, as CEO Akihiko Ogino informed Reuters. This follows previous increases of 5%, 4%, and 7% over the last three years.

> "In order to secure quality talent, we have to raise wages above inflation," Ogino stated. "Every company has a shortage of workers."

The firm is also considering raising the starting monthly base salary for career-track employees to 300,000 yen ($1,920) from 290,000 yen, pending negotiations between employees and management.

In April this year, large Japanese firms agreed to a 5.20% average pay increase, the largest in 33 years, at the shunto spring wage negotiations.

However, the anticipated pay increase at Daiwa for April 2025 is expected to surpass that of most companies, as only 9% of surveyed firms indicated a possible increase of 5% to 7% in the next financial year.

Daiwa has also ramped up its hiring of mid-career employees over the past two years. Ogino anticipates total experienced hires will reach 250 for the year ending March 2025, up from 161 the previous year and 147 before that.

Policymakers argue that decades of stagnant wage growth in Japan have hindered domestic demand and overall economic growth. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda has identified sustainable wage increases as essential for future interest rate hikes.

> ($1 = 156.3500 yen)