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On June 22, 2011, a Robert Walters global survey which involved 3,200 respondents in 16 Asian countries was released.  The poll revealed that almost one third of Japanese professionals did not receive a salary increase from 2010- 2011.  
Despite Asia having the highest proportion of pay raises globally, the survey showed that of the Japanese respondents:

• 27%  received no pay raise,
• 44%  received a salary raise of between 1-5%,
• 16%  received between 6-10%,
• 2%  received between 11-20% , and
• 11%  received more than 21%

With respect to workers who did NOT get pay raises in Asia, other Asian countries fared better than Japan.   The other Asian countries had a lower percentage of their workers getting no pay raises.  For example in contrast to Japan at 27%, Singapore had 18% of its professionals with no wage increases, Hong Kong with 24%, and China with 13%.  
In addition, when comparing Japanese professional who received a raise of 10% or more with other professional employees in the other Asian markets:

• 45% of respondents in China received a raise 10% or more,
• 26% of respondents in Thailand,
• 22% of respondents in Singapore,
• 21% of respondents in Hong Kong, and
• only 13% of respondents in Japan

Analysts believe that employers in Japan have taken a cautionary approach to wage increases following the March earthquake and the rise of the Yen, particularly those within the struggling manufacturing sector.  However, it is expected that small wage increases will likely occur in Japan in the near future as companies, both foreign and domestic, aim to attract more Japanese professionals and retain their top performers.