JJapan Finance

Do part timers who are required to be fully bilingual, like at airports, get paid extra?

  • February 8, 2026

Since English proficiency is pretty low here, are arubaito part timers able to get higher salaries working at say the airside restaurants at Haneda and Narita, or at hotels catering to foreigners in Marunouchi, or at Disney, or anywhere where it’s required (and actually needed) to be fully bilingual?

Would they make say 1800-2000 an hour, vs the 1100 to 1400 that a regular part timer might make?

by AmazonPMTInternRip

6 comments

  1. There are heaps of bilingual people with not many technical skills, so I’d assume no.

    We are hiring a temp translator for 8 months from an agency and their pay is 1500 yen an hour with years of GMP document experience

  2. Not as part-timers, but bilingual tech workers would have more job opportunities at companies that may require dual proficiency.

  3. Many roles are simply paid at a fixed rate, so being bilingual or trilingual does not change either the job scope or the compensation.

    In addition, many bilingual or trilingual professionals have lived overseas and understand that being pulled into an office-based role often leads to unpaid overtime and reduced work–life balance.

    As a result, they choose to work their contracted hours and maintain a life that does not absorb additional stress in exchange for a marginal increase in pay.

  4. If you work at events where it’s a requirement, it’s not uncommon to see 3000/hour. Not アルバイト but events though.

  5. I used to be in a company where somewhat skilled positions (as in more so than retail or F&B) with trilingual staff got 1400 per hour so I doubt it.

  6. I’m always surprised by bilingual workers at retail stores in tourist areas. Like one guy at ABC Mart on Ameyoko/Ueno who was responding to questions in English from multiple customers. Maybe they pay on commission?

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