What salary and benefit should I expect for International assignment in Tokyo?

7 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **What salary and benefit should I expect for International assignment in Tokyo?**

   I’m a middle manager with 8 yrs experience and about to take on a logistics team leader role in Tokyo proposed from the company I ve been working for in Switzerland. I will relocate from Switzerland for a likely three-year international assignment. I want to ensure that my compensation aligns with expat market standards. Considering my previous working experience in Japan and holding JLPT N2, what would be a suitable starting base pay and housing allowance to request for a married couple?
   I am concerned about the yen depreciation and saving amount once back to Europe.

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2. I did an expat assignment in a different country with my company (in Japan I’m on local salary now). They calculated my pay based on my home country salary and converted it to the destination currency exchange rate at that time so you would get a really favorable exchange rate if you moved here. Personally I moved from San Francisco (which has similar COL and salary in my industry to Zurich) to Tokyo, took a 50% pay cut and my quality of life is much better if I spend similar % of income on rent etc. So if you get your swiss salary converted to yen and a housing allowance on top you can live very well

3. Are you asking because your company hasn’t shared the details yet and you’re just daydreaming about it? Your firm’s mobility team (or whoever they outsource to) would lay out the details of your secondment and whatever compensation/benefits plan they intend to implement, i.e. local plus, expat lite, etc.

   We have no clue about your industry, responsibilities, firm’s budget/expectations, etc. so there’s no way we can provide you with any number that isn’t made up or anecdotal.

   If you’re just asking how much is a nice salary for an overseas couple to receive for the headache of moving abroad, this is again subjective, but I would say nothing less than 10 million JPY as the absolute bare minimum, and then throw in all the standard relocation/housing/family terms, as you’ll have accompanying family. Incentives would be nice too.

4. They should either continue to pay your current salary in CHF or convert your current salary to JPY at the prevailing FX rate. Most employers will allow you to split compensation between home country and Japan.

   The expat package ranges for a typical international assignment would be:

   Relocation allowance: USD 10-30k plus 100% of ocean shipping costs up to 1 40ft container.

   COLA – For Japan its typically 20-25% of salary if coming from US and based on State Department calculations. Other countries probably have a different differential.

   Rental subsidy – 60%-80％ of total rental costs up to a ceiling which at the mid to senior level is usually between 500,000 and 1 million JPY/month.

   Education for kids – 75% to 100% of international school tuition and transport

   Travel allowance for 1 paid trip home per year for all family members.

   Given the weak yen, Japan is one the most financially advantageous expat posts.

5. For folks reading. This is how you move to Japan.

6. It is very hard to give you a figure (I will anyway below). It depends on your industry, your role, how badly the company wants you in Japan (e.g. are they sending you over to fix something or make a situation better urgently or is this something you pushed for), FX rate to an extent, job band and corresponding salary range in Japan to an extent.

   As for benefits, you should be getting a business class flight over for the both of you, a relo bonus, shipping of up to $X amount, and first 30 days of serviced apartment. Either HR or a relo company should be helping you get a place. These days they may or may not act as a guarantor for you but better if the company does.

   Other optionals are tax prep services, extra vacation days for home visit, paid flight for home visit, guarantees around repatriation, housing allowances.

   So…I know manufacturing in general here doesn’t pay super well relative to other industries. 7 people, 8 yoe. I am going to say 8m to 10m base with a 10% to 20% bonus. I personally think it is worth a 12m to 15m overall comp but what do I know. What do you think?

7. In the service industry it would be starting around 10M net, 350k monthly for an apartment for 2 adults. If you won’t be paying into your native pension system, you should ask if there is a pension/savings scheme they offer.