Nomura to give average hike of 16% for younger brokerage staffers

Nomura Holdings Inc. is set to grant an average 16 per cent salary increase to its younger employees at the flagship Japanese brokerage subsidiary in the next fiscal year, beginning April 1. The salary hike, surpassing local inflation rates, is part of an effort to retain and motivate newer recruits amid growing competition, according to Bloomberg.

The salary raise planned by Japan’s largest securities firm will include base wage increments and regular seniority-based raises. Nomura Securities Co. employees with three years or less of service will be affected by this initiative, as disclosed by Chief Executive Officer Kentaro Okuda during a gathering of industry leaders in Tokyo on January 3.

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Major corporations in Japan are responding to the return of inflation and government calls for higher wages, resulting in more attractive pay packages. Nomura’s move follows the trend, with Daiwa Securities Group Inc., one of its main competitors, considering a pay increase of 7 per cent or more for local employees in the upcoming fiscal year. However, recent data indicated a cooling of inflation in Japan, with consumer prices (excluding fresh food items) growing at 2.5 per cent.

Nomura Securities‘ planned base salary boost for younger staff represents the first increase since 2017, according to Okuda. For new hires joining the unit in the next fiscal year, the brokerage aims to offer a starting salary of ¥265,000 ($1,845) per month, reflecting an 8.2 per cent increase from the previous year.

Filings indicate that the turnover rate for employees under 30 at Nomura’s Japan operations and its wholesale business globally was 15 per cent in the year ending March 2023, compared to 15.7 per cent and 9.7 per cent in the previous two years, respectively. Over the three years through March 2023, the Nomura group as a whole welcomed 2,277 new hires in Japan.

(With Inputs from Bloomberg)