Uniqlo Employees To Receive Substantial Pay Raises
The Japanese Company Fast Retailing, the owner of Uniqlo, is giving all of their Japan-based employees a 40% raise.
With all the bad news in the world, finally, someone has received some good vibes going into 2023. The Japanese company, Fast Retailing, which owns a range of clothing brands, including Uniqlo and Theory, is increasing their employee’s wages. They announced this week that they would be giving their employees up to 40% more money in their wage packets, as the average salary has not improved in the last few years.
The pay rise will include all staff members in each of their companies, from the chief executive officer to the employees working on the shop floor. This business update comes in the wake of the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, calling all business owners to invest more money in the staff as the Japanese economy threatens a recession. Currently, the average wage does not reflect the cost of living, and many citizens are finding it more challenging to pay their essential bills and expenses.
This is the most significant drop in living standards in Japan for over a decade, as it is the third largest economy in the world, which is surprising. The average wage is in its largest decline in over eight years, causing devastating effects on the Japanese people.
In the capital of Japan, the effects of inflation are really taking a toll on the people living there as inflation has increased by 4% compared to the year before. This number is above the 3.8% rise predicted by economists. The rise in inflation is the highest seen in Japan over the last four decades.
These economic conditions were one of the factors that Uniqlo considered when deciding on a pay rise for their employees. They are also focused on increasing their employee’s annual wages to match the global standard, as this makes them more competitive in attracting high-standard, world-class employees.
Uniqlo employees will receive their pay increase in March of this year. Entry-level employees will see an increase of 18%, while higher-level staff like store managers could see a wage increase of up to 36%. The wage increase is not just solely for Japan. Uniqlo is hiking wages globally with a pay rise for their international employees, ranging from 5% to 25%.
The global economy has still not recovered since the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reverberations from locking down the whole world have still not subsided as economies face high inflation levels and threatening recessions. Add in European wars and a cost of living crisis; it is the perfect storm to destroy any country’s economy.
But in the midst of all that negative news, companies like Uniqlo understand the hardships that their employees have faced and will probably face for some time to come and are coming to their rescue. This pay rise for a lot of employees will help them with essential bills and expenses that may have been impossible to afford. So well done for thinking of your employees, Uniqlo. Not every retail company would do the same.
