Japanese are becoming more unhappy at work, the government said in a report yesterday, highlighting complaints over pay, lack of vacations and a decline in morale.

Long known for being workaholics willing to sacrifice their personal lives for the company, Japanese workers, especially younger ones, are now placing more priority on time with their families and financial rewards.

The percentage of workers satisfied with the pace of their pay increases fell to 6.2 percent in 2005 from 15.7 percent in 1990, the government's labor white paper said.

Those happy with their ability to take vacations was down to 18.3 percent in 2005 from 22.4 percent in 1990, a sign of the difficulties workers have in taking their full holiday entitlement as they face heavy workloads and pressure from bosses.

"Workers seem to want more personal time and increasingly want to fulfil their emotional needs rather than materialistic needs," a health ministry official said.

The findings are a reminder of the challenges companies face in hiring new talent as Japan's population ages and its work force shrinks, economists said.

"It used to be that companies could lure new talent with high salaries," said Saori Tsuiki, an economist at Mitsubishi Research Institute.

"But workers now want something more, and this has been a big headache for corporate strategies," she said.