Corporate Views on Wage Increases and Government Support Policies for SMEs

Recently, due to the overall rise in prices, workers' real wages have not increased, leading to growing calls for wage increases. As a result, a survey was conducted to gauge the willingness of corporate executives to raise wages.

The survey results showed that only 9.2% of executives responded that a wage increase of more than 5% was possible, and even when combined with responses indicating some degree of increase but less than 5%, it only amounted to about one-third of the total. On the other hand, about 44% responded that wages should be frozen or even cut. The reasons cited for the difficulty in raising wages included the deterioration of profitability due to the inability to reflect the rise in prices in product prices, and the absence of future wage increase plans.

Many believed that cost reduction and increased sales through price increases are necessary to secure funds for wage increases. In particular, more than half of the executives in some industries, such as mining, tourism, and accommodation, expressed their intention to reduce costs.

Expanded tax benefits and increased financial support were considered the most effective measures for supporting SMEs. In addition, various management challenges were raised, including labor shortages, an aging workforce, and difficulties in recruiting talented personnel, depending on the industry. Over half of the executives expressed negative views regarding the government's income tax cut policy.

Overall, many companies felt that the current profit margin of around 3% was insufficient, and it appears that policy efforts are needed, such as strengthening government support for SMEs and improving real purchasing power through price stabilization.