Bonuses to plunge record 19.39%

Summer bonuses at the nation's leading companies this year will drop 19.39 percent year on year to an average 754,009 yen, marking the steepest drop on record, according to a survey by Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation).

It is also the first decline from the previous year since 2002, the survey, on the amount agreed to by labor and management, showed Wednesday.

Manufacturers, hit hard by the global economic slump, will lower workers' bonuses by 24.1 percent to 745,899 yen.

At automakers, the average summer bonus will fall 29.55 percent to 821,563 yen, while home electronics companies will reduce bonuses by 20.33 percent to 667,252 yen.

The annual survey, begun in 1959, covers 253 companies with 500 employees or more listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The latest figures cover 67 of them.(IHT/Asahi: May 22,2009)