Promoted but poorer: Japan's civil servants shun management roles as overtime pay reform backfires

An unusual phenomenon is drawing attention in Japan's central government bureaucracy: civil servants are taking pay cuts after being promoted, and some are now actively avoiding advancement as a result.

According to the Nikkei and other Japanese media outlets on Saturday, a string of cases has emerged in Kasumigaseki — Tokyo's central ministry district — in which officials promoted to section chief or division chief level have seen their annual salaries fall.

The anomaly stems from a reform that extended overtime pay to younger staff. Front-line workers who put in long hours now earn more, while managers are excluded from overtime pay eligibility — meaning a promotion can leave them taking home less than before.

A senior official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications told the Nikkei that his annual salary dropped by more than 1 million yen (about 9.45 million won) after he was promoted to section chief and lost access to overtime pay.

The change is rooted in a long-standing practice at Japan's central ministries known as "service overtime" — unpaid or underpaid extra hours justified by budget constraints. The practice was so entrenched that Kasumigaseki earned the unflattering nickname "Black Kasumigaseki" for its culture of excessive overwork.

That began to change in January 2021.

Then-Administrative Reform Minister Taro Kono ordered ministries to record all overtime hours and pay the full corresponding allowances. Front-line staff handling late-night parliamentary affairs and policy reviews began receiving full overtime compensation.

The "Black Kasumigaseki" culture faded, but an unintended consequence emerged: the pay of younger bureaucrats improved, while managers promoted out of overtime eligibility found their total compensation shrinking.

Civil servants in their 40s and 50s — who had endured years of unpaid overtime in their youth — are now voicing frustration at being excluded from overtime pay after reaching management rank. The sense that promotion brings a financial penalty has spread widely through Japanese society, fueling a growing reluctance to seek managerial advancement.

The Nikkei warned that if the perception of promotion as a losing proposition takes hold, it could erode the competitiveness of the bureaucratic system, and called for work-style reforms at the political level.

The Japanese government has acknowledged the problem. The National Personnel Authority, which oversees hiring for the national civil service, expanded eligibility for a ministry coordination allowance to include managerial staff starting in April, adding 51,800 yen per month. Even so, voices from within the ministries say the allowance falls short of offsetting the overall salary reduction.

장윤기에 살해된 여고생 부모…“17세 이채원으로 기억해주세요”, 가해자 엄벌 호소

https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10760512