Wage structure - Chingin Kozo (English spelling) wage structure

This is the actual state of wages when the individual wages of various workers are grouped according to specific wage-determining factors. In general, it can be broadly divided into inter-company wage structures, which are based on factors such as industry, company size, and region, and intra-company wage structures, which are based on factors such as educational background, age, years of service, job duties, and job performance ability. The former focuses on the attributes of the company, while the latter focuses on the personal attributes of the worker, and this shows a more concrete state of affairs by focusing on the disparities in wages differentiated according to these various factors. Wage structures have different contents and characteristics depending on a country's economic structure, wage system, the degree of development of the labor union movement, and so on.

In the 1980s, the wage structure in Japan saw disparities between industries and companies widen as the industrial structure changed, but disparities by age and length of service narrowed somewhat due to a review of seniority-based wages and increases in starting salaries. In the 1990s, disparities between companies widened amid the prolonged recession, and disparities within companies also widened due to the expansion of merit-based wages and an increase in part-time and temporary workers. Since 2000, a new situation has arisen in which disparities are widening amid a general wage decline against the backdrop of structural reform and high unemployment.

[Toshikazu Yokoyama]

"Naoki Mitani, Intra-Company Wage Structure and the Labor Market" (1997, Kakusoshobo) ▽ "Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Statistics and Information Department, Minister's Secretariat, Statistical and Information Department, 'Basic Survey on Wage Structure' Annual Edition"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

さまざまな労働者の個別賃金を、特定の賃金決定要素別にグループ化してみた賃金の実態。一般に、産業、企業規模、地域などの要素に基づく企業間賃金構造と、学歴、年齢、勤続年数、職務、職務遂行能力などの要素に基づく企業内賃金構造とに大きく分けられる。前者は企業側の属性に、後者は労働者の個人的属性にそれぞれ重点を置いたもので、こうした種々の要因ごとに区別された賃金を、その格差に注目してより具体的な実態を示すものである。賃金構造は、その国の経済構造、賃金制度、労働組合運動の発展の度合いなどによって異なった内容と特徴をもつ。

　わが国の賃金構造は、1980年代には、産業構造の転換に伴って産業別・企業別格差は拡大したが、年功賃金の見直しと初任給の上昇などによって年齢別・勤続年数別格差はやや縮小した。1990年代は長期不況のもとで企業間の格差が広がるとともに、能力主義賃金の拡大やパートタイマー・派遣労働者の増大などにより、企業内格差も拡大した。2000年（平成12）以降は、構造改革と高失業を背景に、全般的な賃金低下のもとでの格差の広がりという新たな事態が生じている。

［横山寿一］

『三谷直紀著『企業内賃金構造と労働市場』（1997・剄草書房）』▽『厚生労働省大臣官房統計統計情報部編・刊『賃金構造基本統計調査報告』各年版』

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