The salary market for foreign engineers in Japan differs depending on the type of job, such as programmer, systems engineer, or project leader. In addition to the type of job, your annual salary may also be affected by the industry you work in, the number of years you have worked, and the type of company you work for, but in this article we will explain the salary market for each type of job.

In order to make a job change that you won't regret, it is also necessary to gather information on check items other than salary. Let's also look at other points you should check, such as work-life balance, welfare benefits, overtime hours, and whether or not there is support for obtaining a visa, in addition to salary.

If you are a foreign engineer looking for a job with a high salary, please use “G Talent”, a job-change agency for foreign engineers. We will provide full support for your job-change, including visa acquisition support and salary negotiations.

Salary market for foreign engineers in Japan

Let's first take a look at the salary market for foreign IT engineers in Japan, broken down by job type. The four types of foreign engineer jobs we will be introducing are as follows.

• Programmer
• System Engineer
• Project Leader
• Project Manager

The salary market differs not only by job type, but also by years of experience and industry, so we will explain each in detail.

Programmer

The average annual salary for foreign programmers in Japan is between 3 and 10 million yen. The reason for the range in the average annual salary is that there are differences depending on the development field and the number of years of experience.

For foreign software engineers, the average annual salary for software engineers with more than 10 years of experience is around 6.7 million yen. For those with more than 5 years of experience, the salary is 5.8 million yen, for those with less than 5 years of experience, it is 4.5 million yen, and for those with less than 1 year of experience, it is 3.9 million yen.

Reference: 外国人ITエンジニアの給与水準はどう決める？相場や給与条件を解説／GitTap

Systems Engineer

The market rate for foreign systems engineers is 3 to 7 million yen per year. The average annual salary for systems engineers with more than 5 years of experience is 4.32 million yen, but for those with less than 5 years of experience, the market rate is 3.38 million yen.

It is said that in Japan, systems engineers do not see a significant increase in their annual salary when they get a pay rise. The reason for this is that the IT industry in Japan is multi-tiered, with many subcontractors and sub-subcontractors, and in some cases, system engineers work in a dispatched employment format, stationed at the client's office.

On the other hand, some system engineers at foreign-affiliated companies earn 10 million yen a year in starting salary, so it can be said that there is a large disparity in salaries between industries and companies.

Reference: システムエンジニアの年収や給料について詳しく解説します！／平均年収.jp

Project Leader

The average annual income for foreign project leaders is around 8 million yen. In their 20s, it is around 4.68 million yen, and in their 30s, it is around 6.22 million yen.

A project leader is a position that oversees a specific part of a project. Although they don't go as far as a project manager, they can expect to earn a higher salary than programmers and engineers who actually do the work.

Reference【外国籍IT人材採用】ホワイトペーパー『よくある失敗から学ぶ！自社に合った採用のコツ』／GitTap

Project manager

The average annual salary for foreign project managers is also around 8 million yen, the same as for project leaders. The average annual salary for project managers with more than 10 years' experience is 8.5 million yen, and for those with more than 5 years' experience, 7.2 million yen.

If you are a foreign engineer with a high level of expertise and technical skills, there is a good chance that your annual salary will increase.

Reference: 外国人エンジニアの給与とは｜相場額を把握し適切な金額設定を行おう／SunWells
 

[As a side note] Does Japanese language ability affect the salary of foreign engineers?

There is a possibility that the salary of foreign engineers will increase if they acquire Japanese language skills. This is because many foreign engineers are currently working in Japan, and they can be expected to play the role of a bridge engineer between foreign engineers and Japanese engineers.

In order to make your Japanese language ability visible, you should acquire a Japanese language qualification. The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is one qualification that you can present when looking for a job or changing jobs.

However, there is no need to worry too much if you don't speak Japanese. If you can communicate at a minimum level, you should be fine, as many solid companies hire Japanese bridge staff.

Reference: 【外国人向け】日本で働くエンジニアの給料事情と高収入を得るための方法[グローバルエンジニア2]／Fellowship

Items that foreign engineers should check other than salary

In order for foreign engineers to make a job change without regrets, there are points to consider other than salary. In particular, by checking the following four points, it is possible to achieve a job change with a high level of satisfaction.

• Is the content of the work consistent with what you want to do?
• Is the amount of overtime work commensurate with the salary?
• Are there welfare benefits that allow you to maintain a good work-life balance?
• Is the communication aspect taken care of?

Is the content of the work consistent with what you want to do?

Make sure to check whether your career history can be put to use in the job content, and whether the job content matches the field you want to work in. Japanese companies have a long-standing culture of adopting a job rotation system, where employees perform the work they are assigned regardless of their wishes, and after a few years they move to a different department. For this reason, employees' experience and the fields they want to work in have not been taken into consideration.

If you end up working for a company that still has this kind of structure, you may end up doing work that is not in the field you want to work in. It is important to always check whether the job you are applying for is one that will make use of your experience or not. There are many different types of IT engineer, so you should also take the time to think about what you are good at and what fields you like.

Reference: ジョブローテーションとは？【意味を解説】メリット、何年／kaonavi

Is the amount of overtime work commensurate with the salary?

Even if you are paid a lot, if you work so much overtime that you don't have time for yourself or can't take part in family events, when you calculate your hourly rate, it will be below average. In Japan, there are companies that evaluate you for working a lot by doing overtime, so there are also many companies that have not made progress in streamlining their operations to reduce overtime.

If you only judge a job based on salary and don't have time for yourself, you've got it all wrong, so make sure you check the overtime hours of the employees who actually work there and find out about the real working conditions.

Reference: Salary Level of IT Engineer's with Salary Market Trends in Japan／G Talent Blog

Are there welfare benefits that allow you to maintain a good work-life balance?

As an engineer who tends to be given a lot of work, you should make sure that there is a welfare program in place that allows you to maintain a good work-life balance. If the company has a maternity leave system, a system for working shorter hours, or a system for taking paid holidays, etc., it can be predicted that they are conscious of work-life balance.

It is also recommended to check things like meal provision, meal subsidies, flexible working hours, and the burden of health checks.

Reference: ワークライフバランスを転職で実現しよう！企業選びのポイントや注意点をご紹介／Apex

Is the communication aspect taken care of?

As a foreigner working in Japan, you will almost certainly find yourself in situations where you need to communicate with Japanese people. If the company has a system in place to help you brush up on your Japanese, you can eliminate any worries you have about communicating in Japanese. Even if the company doesn't have a system in place to help you learn Japanese, if there is a bridge engineer at the company who can act as a go-between for you and the Japanese staff, you can work without any problems even if your Japanese ability is limited.

Reference: 外国人労働者の日本語教育の方法とは？現状と対策について解説／ウィルオブ採用ジャーナル 

Example of average salary for engineers in other countries

From here, let's take a look at the average salary for engineers in other countries, not just Japan. Even if you are an engineer, the salary you receive will depend on which country you work in. Please use this information as a reference when choosing the country in which you want to build your career.

• Japan: 4.5 million yen
• USA: 9 million yen
• Australia, Canada, UK: 5.5 to 6 million yen
• Singapore: 3.7 million yen
• China: 2.4 million yen

The highest salaries for engineers are in the United States, and engineers are more highly valued in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom than in Japan. It is a feature of Asian countries such as Singapore and China that the average salary is set lower than in Japan.

In particular, when comparing Japan and the US, it can be seen that salaries in Japan are lower than in the US for managerial positions and other specialist jobs. According to survey data from a joint study by engineering staffing service TechnoPro Holdings, Inc. and Doshisha University's STEM Human Resources Research Center, the salary gap between Japanese and American engineers has been widening since 2009, and the salary level for Japanese engineers is generally lower than in the US.

In the US, if you have the ability, you have the potential to earn a high annual income at a young age, but if you don't have the ability, it becomes difficult to earn a high annual income. Furthermore, if you don't produce results, there is a good chance you will be fired in the worst case scenario.

In Japan, there is a seniority system where salaries increase in accordance with the number of years worked, and a system of lifetime employment remains in place, so there are cases where even if you improve your technical skills and contribute to the company, this is not reflected in your salary or treatment. On the other hand, if a company is performing poorly, there is no risk of being easily laid off.

For this reason, no matter how high the salary market is in the US, it is rare to be able to work there permanently, as is the case in Japan. It is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the employment systems in each country, and to make a choice that is right for your desired career.

Reference: 「エンジニア給与の日米比較」調査　米国と比べエンジニアの給与水準が低い日本　日米格差は過去より拡大／PRWire
 

Find out the salary market for foreign engineers in Japan and make a job change you won't regret!

In this article, we have introduced the salary market for foreign engineers and IT personnel in Japan. The salary market differs depending on the type of engineer, but you can expect your annual income to increase if you work in the same position for a long time. In addition to salary, consider benefits that allow you to maintain a good work-life balance, overtime hours, and communication aspects, and make a job change you won't regret.

If you are a foreign engineer who feels that the salary market in Japan is low, working outside of Japan is one option. However, in countries where you can expect high income and good treatment, if you don't achieve results you may be dismissed, so it is important to understand not only the salary but also the working style and business culture.

If you are looking for a company in Japan that meets your desired conditions, it will take time and effort to search for one from scratch. In this case, we recommend using a job-placement agency. “G Talent” is a job-placement agency that specializes in foreign engineers, so it can efficiently find companies that match the desired conditions of many engineers. Bilingual consultants with extensive IT knowledge support the matching of companies and engineers, so if you want to work in a global environment in Japan, please consider using “G Talent”.