Young Workers in 2024 Coping with ¥180,000 Take-Home Pay in the Black Company Era

Finally, Japan’s GDP has been overtaken by Germany and is now in fourth place. Perhaps because of this economic situation, salaried workers’ salaries are not rising and they are still suffering. Although there are calls for a labor shortage, the National Tax Agency’s Survey of Private Salary Statistics shows that one in six Japanese earns an annual salary in the 2 million yen range.

What kind of people are working with annual incomes in the 2 million yen range? We interviewed Mr. Sasaki (pseudonym), a 27-year-old man working in the manufacturing industry in Tokyo, who actually earns around 2 million yen a year.

“After graduating from university, I joined this company at the age of 23 and have been working here for four years. My gross salary is ¥220,000, and I take home just over ¥170,000. Out of that, ¥60,000 goes towards rent, and fixed expenses like utilities amount to ¥10,000. I spend around ¥30,000 on food and dining, and about ¥30,000 on socializing, averaging around ¥130,000 per month in expenses. The rest goes towards savings, but unexpected expenses do come up, so if I can save ¥20,000, that’s considered good.”

The company where Mr. Sasaki works does not offer any bonuses or allowances that add to his annual salary, and he is not paid overtime. Although the president of the company has told him that he will be paid accordingly if his performance improves, he has never been paid overtime.

In addition, the senior employees in the company are also paid the same salary, with no raises, and without a position, everyone is paid the same flat salary.

“I heard that our company was most profitable in the early 2000s. At that time, annual income exceeded ¥10 million from the third year of employment, and bonuses were equivalent to six months’ salary twice a year, with regular raises as well. However, there’s no trace of that now. It’s a small company with few employees, and I don’t expect salaries to increase in the future. I don’t have any expectations.”