Sega has announced a substantial raise for its salaried employees. Starting later this summer, Sega will raise the base salary of all existing employees by an average of 30 percent.
Sega said, "It will initiate revision to its compensation system to invest in human resources in order to further stabilize employee income and create a more comfortable working environment, as well as to further strengthen its global competitiveness." This will be done by raising the base salary of all employees as well as incorporating some of the annual bonus incentives into base salaries. The initial weekly salary of hired new graduates will rise from ¥222,000 (around $1,650 USD) to ¥300,000 ($2,230). Sega estimates that the average increase in total annual pay (including bonus) will be around 15 percent.
"We are working to reform our various personnel systems so that employees can maximize their respective potential in a comfortable working environment," wrote Sega in a press release. "We will continue our efforts to realize a system that allows our employees to grow while realizing diverse work styles, and to provide further experiences that move the heart globally."
Sega is a little late to the party when it comes to employee raises. Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Koei Tecmo all announced similar raises last spring, while Nintendo announced a 10 percent pay raise earlier this month. Sega's raise is likely to remain competitive among Japanese game developers.
Japanese game developers raising salaries is in stark contrast to North American corporations, with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Google, Twitter, and Gamestop all announcing mass layoffs in recent months. The Microsoft layoffs significantly impacted 343 Industries, makers of Halo, with sources saying it was hard hit "with positions impacted across all disciplines." Microsoft said it needed to cut 10,000 jobs due to "macroeconomic conditions."
In other Sega news, the Sonic developer recently stated Sonic Frontiers "greatly exceeded" its sales estimates even if it didn't get quite as good reviews as Sega might've hoped. This means that the next Sonic game will have a "bigger budget" than Sonic Frontiers to go along with an increased sales forecast.