TOKYO -- Nikon will increase the pay of high-skill employees and managers by up to 20%, starting in October, Nikkei has learned, as competition for talent intensifies globally in the fields with strong growth potential, such as health care, which the Japanese company is focusing on as a key business.

It is rare for a major Japanese company to raise annual salaries uniformly by up to 20%. While a growing number of overseas companies are raising compensation for highly specialized staff, pay raises are usually limited to staff with highly specialized skills, such as data scientists.