NTT Offers Researchers NTT $1 M Salaries for Talent in Cryptography, Quantum Computing

(JapanTimes) Telecom giant NTT Group is offering record pay of as much as $1 million for researchers in cryptography and quantum computing as it looks to match some of the basic research prowess of global powerhouses including Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc.
The talent NTT is gathering is focused on cryptography, quantum computing and medical informatics in a bet that these fields can yield breakthroughs on a horizon of five years or more, said Kei Karasawa, vice president of corporate strategy for NTT Research.

Aiming for Big Name Researchers
The former Japanese telephone monopoly has set annual salaries of as much as $1 million (¥108.45 million) for researchers at its labs in Palo Alto, California, said Kazuhiro Gomi, president of the company’s research arm. That’s more than the company pays its chief executive officer and 41-year veteran Jun Sawada, and a rare step for a traditional Japanese company like NTT.
The lab also needs big name scientists because for most top researchers, high pay alone isn’t enough, said Karasawa. Scientists strongly prefer to work with the leaders in their field. Having star scientists on the lab’s payroll, backed by a ¥25 billion five-year budget, helps the group draw better technology workers and partners as it wages a global war for the top talent it needs to expand globally.