Winter bonuses fall for 1st time in 3 years

Winter bonuses at major companies fell for the first time in three years, according to a survey by the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren).

Bonuses fell 3.99 percent from a year before to 781,396 yen on average per union member at the 83 companies surveyed, the nation's largest business lobby said in a preliminary survey released Thursday.

The fall is the third-steepest ever, reflecting fiscal 2011 earnings affected by last year's March 11 disaster, the strong yen and the slowdown of the European economy.

Bonuses fell in eight of the 12 surveyed sectors.

They were down 4.97 percent at electronics makers, 4.73 percent at food makers, 3.92 percent at nonferrous metal makers and 3.6 percent at automakers.


http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T121109002719.htm