CEO behind Japan’s best-performing stock says his secret is raising salaries
Some context on the japanese job market from what I&#x27;ve seen:<p>- The entire japanese job market&#x27;s wages are depressed[0]<p>- In 2019, pressure had to come from the PM (not the local unions) to raise the minimum wage to 1000 yen&#x2F;hour (~$9&#x2F;hour)[1]<p>- Engineers are underpaid here, possibly more so than the EU in relation to the US. This is amplified for japanese companies (whether &quot;black&quot;[1] or not)<p>- With nationalized healthcare and generally low cost of living (even in Tokyo, a &quot;world city&quot;), most workers do not feel the pain of being underpaid sharply. Cultural differences and a propensity to save (more ant than grasshopper, let&#x27;s say) generally feels like the backstop behind the economy (other than the BOJ&#x27;s enormous purse and very active involvement).<p>- There is a sort of inbuilt trust in the society that expresses itself in economic transactions (loan companies can be very trusting, risk is considered low with Japanese applicants, etc) and greases the wheels of commerce most of the time, if all participants are local. There are other factors (sometimes the same ones) that make it difficult&#x2F;slow down japan but those are well discussed generally.<p>- &quot;Super Salaryman&quot; is a colloquial term here (I can&#x27;t find it on wiki or elsewhere) for a salaryman[3] that makes 10 million yen (~$90k) per year<p>- Japanese companies often provide &quot;free&quot; company housing to new grads to enable them to save while being paid relatively little. Many live with for a bit after graduating (women more so than men) as well without much stigma.<p>- Company standing&#x2F;appearances mean alot -- $60k at [large conglomerate] is far and away more prestigious than $80k at [unknown startup] in the eyes of many.<p>[EDIT] Added some more from a different comment that might be useful.<p>[EDIT2] - fix the super salaryman yen estimation, confused with 10 million<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.japantimes.co.jp&#x2F;news&#x2F;2021&#x2F;03&#x2F;17&#x2F;business&#x2F;lowest-pay-rises&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.japantimes.co.jp&#x2F;news&#x2F;2021&#x2F;03&#x2F;17&#x2F;business&#x2F;lowest...</a><p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.japantimes.co.jp&#x2F;news&#x2F;2019&#x2F;06&#x2F;07&#x2F;national&#x2F;japan-facing-increased-pressure-hike-minimum-wage-business-leaders-give-mixed-response&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.japantimes.co.jp&#x2F;news&#x2F;2019&#x2F;06&#x2F;07&#x2F;national&#x2F;japan-...</a><p>[2]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Black_company_(Japanese_term)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Black_company_(Japanese_term)</a><p>[3]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Salaryman" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Salaryman</a>