Japan's national civil servants saw an increase in their average summer bonus for the second straight year in 2024.
The government says non-managerial employees with an average age of 33 received a bonus of about 659,000 yen, or roughly 4,100 dollars.
That's up 3.5 percent in yen terms from last year and is expected to help narrow the gap with the private sector.
Japan is facing a shortage of civil servants. The number of people applying for career-track positions in March was the lowest since fiscal 2012.
In addition, more government employees are quitting after working for less than 10 years.
The government is trying to tackle these problems through the use of digital technology and offering shorter working hours.