Japan’s economy has expanded 5.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, the fastest in three years, as surging exports prompted companies to boost spending. This increase in earnings and a little persuasion from labour unions has made the major consumer electronics companies to raise the wages of its employees and in some cases pay bonuses as well.
Japan’s largest liquid- crystal display television maker, Sharp Corp., has agreed to give a 1,000 yen ($8.60) increase per month. The world’s second-biggest maker of NAND flash memory, Toshiba Corp., Japan’s largest personal-computer maker, NEC Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., a supplier of chips, network equipment and mobile phones, and the nation’s biggest factory-machinery maker, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., have agreed to raise the wages of labour. World’s biggest consumer electronics maker, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., said that the company has planned to raise the wages of employees with children to about 1,000 yen.
