{"id":46933,"date":"2025-04-10T19:44:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T10:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=46933"},"modified":"2025-04-10T19:44:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T10:44:05","slug":"sony-and-bandai-namco-abolish-employee-bonuses-in-favor-of-raising-average-salaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sony-and-bandai-namco-abolish-employee-bonuses-in-favor-of-raising-average-salaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony and Bandai Namco abolish employee bonuses in favor of raising average salaries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Japanese business journal <a href=\"https:\/\/business.nikkei.com\/atcl\/gen\/19\/00636\/040700038\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nikkei Business<\/a> reported on April 9 that Sony and Bandai Namco have abolished winter bonuses for some of their employees in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In comparison to western companies, the concept of \u201cbonuses\u201d is slightly different in Japan, as they\u2019re paid to all workers usually twice a year \u2013 once in the summer, and once in the winter. While the size of the bonus may vary depending on the company, it usually amounts to the value of a few months\u2019 salary per seasonal bonus, which means it&#8217;s a significant chunk of peoples\u2019 yearly incomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"866\" height=\"650\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250410-46933001.jpg\" alt=\"Sony logo.\" class=\"wp-image-46935\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250410-46933001.jpg 866w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250410-46933001-380x285.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250410-46933001-768x576.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As Nikkei Business highlights, Sony and Bandai Namco have recently revamped their compensation systems by abolishing these bonuses partially in order to redistribute them as part of the monthly salary and thus effectively raise average salaries. More specifically, they have abolished winter bonuses and converted them to salaries, while the summer bonuses are still being paid out regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for how this has reflected on salaries &#8211; the starting salary for certain entry-level positions at Sony Group was raised by 38,000 yen (approx. $260 USD), and if we take into account the overall wage increase of 10,000 yen, the total adds up to a 48,000 yen (approx. $330 USD) increase. As for Bandai Namco, the introduction of the new compensation system in 2022 resulted in its starting salary being raised from around 1,500 USD to around 1,980 USD. Moreover, in 2025, the initial salary was raised by an additional 100 USD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"866\" height=\"650\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250410-46933002.jpg\" alt=\"Bandai Namco Logo.\" class=\"wp-image-46936\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250410-46933002.jpg 866w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250410-46933002-380x285.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250410-46933002-768x576.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason why companies are currently going as far as redesigning their compensation systems is mainly the workforce shortage \u2013 in order to attract more talent, it is necessary to offer more competitive salaries and make investments into human resources more efficient. Another good example of this is Konami Group, <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/amidst-mass-industry-layoffs-konami-is-raising-salaries-for-the-fourth-year-in-a-row-human-resources-are-the-source-of-our-competitiveness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">who recently raised employees\u2019 salaries for the fourth consecutive year<\/a> in order to create a more rewarding work environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Japanese Trade Union Confederation\u2019s annual wage increase statistics for Spring 2025, the average salary in Japan was increased by 5.42%, exceeding the percentage of average salary raises for the previous year, and it is predicted that this number will only grow. <a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles: <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20230217-17912\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sega to increase the average monthly salary of its employees by 30%<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sony and Bandai Namco raise average salaries at the expense of bonuses in order to battle workforce shortage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":40212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[261,17],"class_list":["post-46933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-financial-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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