AI Real Estate Investment 'RENOSY' Conducts the '2026 Awareness Survey on Starting Salaries and Investments Among New Professionals'
A survey by GA technologies reveals that 1 in 6 fresh graduates in 2026 receives a starting salary of 300,000 yen or more. Driven by wage hikes and financial education, over 90% show interest in investing, indicating a trend toward early asset building.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 14, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 14, 2026 at 11:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 19, 2026 at 17:38 (126h 7m after Collected)
The AI real estate investment service 'RENOSY,' operated by GA technologies Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and CEO: Ryo Higuchi; Securities Code: 3491), conducted the '2026 Awareness Survey on Starting Salaries and Investments Among New Professionals' (hereinafter 'this survey'). The survey targeted 812 men and women aged 18-29, comprising 'first-year professionals' who entered the workforce in April 2026, and 'second-year professionals' who started working in April 2025 and are marking their one-year anniversary.
This survey has been conducted since 2024 to clarify how new professionals spend their money and their interest in asset building.
The recent trend of 'wage hikes' is affecting starting salaries this year, which are expected to remain at a high level (*1). Therefore, this time, in addition to our annual awareness survey on investment, we also investigated how the social situation of 'wage hikes' affects the future outlook of young people and how it is reflected in their asset building. We announce the results through a comparison between first-year and second-year professionals.
◆ Key Survey Results
- Entering an era where 1 in 6 first-year professionals has a starting salary of 300,000 yen or more, and approximately 90% choose companies based on 'salary.'
- Differences in honest feelings toward 'wage hikes': About 70% of first-year professionals feel 'future secure,' but only about 40% of second-years feel the same.
- Around 90% of first-year professionals debut in asset building during their student days. The 'acceleration of early investing' is prominent.
- The purpose of asset building is 'for self-investment/growth' for first-year professionals, and 'life defense/preparation' for second-years.
◆ Detailed Survey Results
(1) 1 in 6 first-year professionals have a starting salary of 300,000 yen or more. Around 90% choose companies based on 'salary.'
First, when asking first- and second-year professionals about their total monthly salary (gross amount) (*2), 17.2% of first-year professionals and 10.4% of second-year professionals answered that their starting salary is 300,000 yen or more. The percentage of first-year professionals exceeded that of second-years by 6.8 points, revealing that 1 in 6 plans to receive a starting salary over 300,000 yen.
Next, when asked about 'the importance of starting salary when selecting a place of employment,' 90.4% of first-years and 73.1% of second-years prioritized starting salary during their job hunt. Notably, 43.2% of first-years answered they 'highly prioritized' it, significantly exceeding the 15.4% of second-years.
Considering the recent social trend of continuous wage hikes and the results in (1), it can be inferred that a 'high starting salary' has become an indispensable condition for first-year professionals when choosing a company.
(2) Differences in honest feelings toward 'wage hikes': About 70% of first-years feel 'future secure,' but only about 40% of second-years feel the same.
Furthermore, when investigating how the recent trend of wage hikes affects their future outlook, differences were found between first- and second-year professionals.
In response to the question, 'Do you feel your future is secure due to corporate wage hikes?', 71.6% of first-year professionals answered 'Secure (fully secure/somewhat secure).' In contrast, only 41.8% of second-year professionals felt the same, showing a gap between the two cohorts.
There is also a divergence in the evaluation of the starting salary amount. The largest group of first-year professionals felt their starting salary was 'high (52.0%),' whereas the most common response among second-years was 'just right (47.8%).'
From these results, it is believed that the high starting salaries are giving first-year professionals a sense of psychological ease. On the other hand, second-year professionals, having experienced the burden of living expenses due to high prices and seeing their actual 'take-home pay' over a year of working, have become more cautious financially.
(3) Around 90% of first-year professionals debut in asset building during their student days. The 'acceleration of early investing' is prominent.
Next, when asking about 'thoughts on asset building,' the percentage of those with asset building experience (currently doing it / have done it but not currently) reached 86.7% for first-year professionals and 62.1% for second-years. Adding the group interested in investing brings this to 94.7% for first-years and 89.9% for second-years, showing that 90% of both cohorts are interested in investing.
In the 2025 survey (*3), those with experience were only about 60% among first-years at the time, and about 50% among second-years. Behind this significant increase in the percentage of experienced individuals is the passage of four years since financial education began for high school students. With more opportunities to encounter information about asset building...
This survey has been conducted since 2024 to clarify how new professionals spend their money and their interest in asset building.
The recent trend of 'wage hikes' is affecting starting salaries this year, which are expected to remain at a high level (*1). Therefore, this time, in addition to our annual awareness survey on investment, we also investigated how the social situation of 'wage hikes' affects the future outlook of young people and how it is reflected in their asset building. We announce the results through a comparison between first-year and second-year professionals.
◆ Key Survey Results
- Entering an era where 1 in 6 first-year professionals has a starting salary of 300,000 yen or more, and approximately 90% choose companies based on 'salary.'
- Differences in honest feelings toward 'wage hikes': About 70% of first-year professionals feel 'future secure,' but only about 40% of second-years feel the same.
- Around 90% of first-year professionals debut in asset building during their student days. The 'acceleration of early investing' is prominent.
- The purpose of asset building is 'for self-investment/growth' for first-year professionals, and 'life defense/preparation' for second-years.
◆ Detailed Survey Results
(1) 1 in 6 first-year professionals have a starting salary of 300,000 yen or more. Around 90% choose companies based on 'salary.'
First, when asking first- and second-year professionals about their total monthly salary (gross amount) (*2), 17.2% of first-year professionals and 10.4% of second-year professionals answered that their starting salary is 300,000 yen or more. The percentage of first-year professionals exceeded that of second-years by 6.8 points, revealing that 1 in 6 plans to receive a starting salary over 300,000 yen.
Next, when asked about 'the importance of starting salary when selecting a place of employment,' 90.4% of first-years and 73.1% of second-years prioritized starting salary during their job hunt. Notably, 43.2% of first-years answered they 'highly prioritized' it, significantly exceeding the 15.4% of second-years.
Considering the recent social trend of continuous wage hikes and the results in (1), it can be inferred that a 'high starting salary' has become an indispensable condition for first-year professionals when choosing a company.
(2) Differences in honest feelings toward 'wage hikes': About 70% of first-years feel 'future secure,' but only about 40% of second-years feel the same.
Furthermore, when investigating how the recent trend of wage hikes affects their future outlook, differences were found between first- and second-year professionals.
In response to the question, 'Do you feel your future is secure due to corporate wage hikes?', 71.6% of first-year professionals answered 'Secure (fully secure/somewhat secure).' In contrast, only 41.8% of second-year professionals felt the same, showing a gap between the two cohorts.
There is also a divergence in the evaluation of the starting salary amount. The largest group of first-year professionals felt their starting salary was 'high (52.0%),' whereas the most common response among second-years was 'just right (47.8%).'
From these results, it is believed that the high starting salaries are giving first-year professionals a sense of psychological ease. On the other hand, second-year professionals, having experienced the burden of living expenses due to high prices and seeing their actual 'take-home pay' over a year of working, have become more cautious financially.
(3) Around 90% of first-year professionals debut in asset building during their student days. The 'acceleration of early investing' is prominent.
Next, when asking about 'thoughts on asset building,' the percentage of those with asset building experience (currently doing it / have done it but not currently) reached 86.7% for first-year professionals and 62.1% for second-years. Adding the group interested in investing brings this to 94.7% for first-years and 89.9% for second-years, showing that 90% of both cohorts are interested in investing.
In the 2025 survey (*3), those with experience were only about 60% among first-years at the time, and about 50% among second-years. Behind this significant increase in the percentage of experienced individuals is the passage of four years since financial education began for high school students. With more opportunities to encounter information about asset building...