Labor-saving investment subsidy (General Type): Round 8 has closed, Round 9 is scheduled for December applicationsThe government helps companies short of workers bring in robots and similar equipment
This subsidy covers part of the cost for small and medium-sized businesses struggling with labor shortages to introduce equipment such as IoT and robots. Applications for Round 8 closed at 17:00 on October 16. Round 9 is announced as scheduled to open for proposals in early November, accept applications from early December, and close in late December. The upper limit ranges from JPY 7.5 million to JPY 80 million depending on the number of employees.
Key points
- Subsidy upper limit: JPY 7.5 million for 5 or fewer employees, JPY 15 million for 6 to 20, JPY 30 million for 21 to 50, JPY 50 million for 51 to 100, and JPY 80 million for 101 or more (JPY 10 million to JPY 100 million when the large wage increase exception applies)
- Subsidy rate: 1/2 for small and medium-sized enterprises, 2/3 for small enterprises, small business operators and businesses under restructuring (2/3 for SMEs when the minimum wage increase exception applies)
- Basic requirements include labor productivity growth of +4.0% or more per year on average, growth in total salary paid per employee of +3.5% or more per year on average, and an in-house minimum wage at least JPY 30 above the minimum wage of the prefecture where the project is carried out
- Project period: within 18 months of the grant decision date (within 20 months of the announcement of selection). Spending on machinery and equipment and system construction is mandatory
- Round 9 schedule: call for proposals opens in early November, application acceptance begins in early December, application deadline in late December (details to be announced later)
What to do in practice
- If you do not yet have a GBizID Prime account, which is required to apply, obtain one early
- Wait for the Round 9 call-for-proposals guidelines to be published, then prepare your equipment plan and wage increase plan
When a company that has too few workers tries to make its work easier with machines or computers, the government pays part of the cost. The condition is that the company raises pay by the amount the work became easier.
- Money spent on equipment
- JPY 10 million
- Subsidy rate
- Two-thirds
- Upper limit (5 or fewer)
- JPY 7.5 million
- Rough amount the government pays
- About JPY 6.67 million
Points
- Half of the money spent comes back (two-thirds for small companies)
- There is a maximum amount you can get, depending on how many people the company has
- The next application round is expected around December. It helps to prepare the needed procedures first
What the words mean
- Labor saving
- Using machines and the like to reduce the work people have to do by hand
- Subsidy upper limit
- The most the government will pay, no matter how much the cost is
- Small and Medium Enterprise Agency: SME Labor-Saving Investment Subsidy: What is the General Type
- Small and Medium Enterprise Agency: SME Labor-Saving Investment Subsidy: Top page (General Type)
- Small and Medium Enterprise Agency: Small and Medium Enterprise Agency: Subsidy call for proposals information
This article summarizes and explains materials published by government agencies and is not advice on any individual case. Rules can change, so for actual procedures and decisions always check the latest original materials and consult professionals such as tax accountants or labor and social security attorneys. English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese versions are translations prepared from the Japanese articles for convenience. If anything differs, the Japanese text and the original source take precedence.