Blue-Collar Wages Rise in Japan Amid Labor Shortages

Blue-Collar Wages Rise in Japan Amid Labor Shortages. Work and Economy - English - Japanese - Simplified Chinese - Traditional Chinese - French - Spanish - Arabic - Russian

Blue-Collar Wages Rising in Japan Amid Labor Shortage Work Economy- English - 日本語 - 简体字 - 繁體字 - Français - Español - العربية - Русский

Wages in some sectors are falling behind inflation.Wages in Some Sectors Lag Behind Inflation

Average annual income in Japan in 2025, including 12 months of salary and bonuses, reached 5,456,000 yen, according to calculations by the Recruit Works Institute based on a Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare survey. That marks a 12% increase over the comparable average five years earlier, in 2020. Yet consumer prices rose 11.9% over the same five-year period, meaning that real wages have scarcely risen at all.

Average annual income in Japan for 2025 (including 12 months of salary plus bonuses) reached ¥5,456,000 according to calculations by the Recruit Works Institute, based on a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. This is a 12% increase compared to the average five years earlier (2020), for which comparable data is available. However, since consumer prices rose by 11.9% over the same five-year period, real wages have hardly risen at all.

A sector-by-sector breakdown of average pay shows that the largest increase over the past five years, at 64%, came among field clerical workers, including bill collectors, statistical surveyors, and meter readers. Of the 10 occupations with the strongest wage growth, four were blue-collar jobs, among them taxi drivers and automobile assembly workers. Furuya Shoto, a chief researcher at the Recruit Works Institute, says that labor shortages have become particularly acute in physically demanding blue-collar work, making wages more likely to rise there.

The breakdown of average salaries by sector shows the largest increase over the past five years, at 64%, was seen among field clerical workers, such as bill collectors, statistical surveyors, and meter readers. Among the top 10 sectors for wage growth, four were blue-collar occupations, including taxi drivers and automobile assembly workers. According to Furuya Shōto, a chief researcher at the Recruit Works Institute, “labor shortages in the realm of physically demanding blue-collar jobs have become particularly severe, making it more likely for wages to rise.”

Among white-collar workers, pay rose most notably for specialized professionals such as certified public accountants and systems consultants. For other white-collar roles, however, including ordinary clerical work, wage growth was comparatively modest. In particular, general office clerks, whose duties are not clearly delimited, saw wages rise by only 8.5%.

White-collar salaries rose most notably among specialized professionals, such as certified public accountants and systems consultants. However, in the case of other white-collar jobs, such as standard clerical work, wage growth was relatively low. In particular, the wages of general office clerks, whose job responsibilities are not narrowly defined, increased by only 8.5%.

Furuya notes that generative AI has not yet brought about a stage in which demand for white-collar workers is contracting across the board. At the same time, he adds, it is important to recognize that wage growth for nonspecialized general clerical jobs remains below the average.

Furuya noted that “generative AI has not yet ushered in a phase where demand for white-collar workers is shrinking overall,” but he added that “it is important to note that wage growth for unspecialized general clerical jobs remains below the average.”

Wages have broadly stagnated, with increases limited to the single digits, in sectors where pay is set institutionally rather than determined by market supply and demand. These include teachers, healthcare and nursing-care workers whose wages are determined through the public insurance system, and bus drivers, whose pay depends on government-approved fares. In these sectors, real wages have in fact declined. Furuya points to the risk that labor shortages will deepen further, leading to a deterioration in essential local services.

Wages have remained generally stagnant, with single-digit increases, in those sectors where wages are officially set rather than determined by market supply and demand. This includes teachers as well as healthcare and nursing-care workers, whose wages are determined according to the public insurance system, and bus drivers, whose wages depend on government-approved fares. This means that real wages in those sectors have actually declined. Furuya indicates the “risk that labor shortages will worsen further, leading to the deterioration of essential local services.”

Data SourcesData Sources

- Data on wage changes (Japanese), Recruit Works Institute

- Data on changes in wages (Japanese) from Recruit Works Institute