Japan's labor crunch is so acute that companies are hiring 70-year-olds

Aug 15, 2023 | News On Japan

Four in 10 companies hired people aged 70 or more last year

TOKYO - In Japan, an aging population has created a massive labor crunch in the country. Japan Inc., though, has found a solution in the problem itself: Hire older workers.

Last year, four in 10 companies hired people aged 70 or more, Nikkei reported, citing the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

It’s not an ideal choice, given that older workers are more prone to on-the-job accidents, but options are few and far between. A weakening yen has made Japan an unattractive place of work for foreigners and also driven Japanese youth in pursuit of higher-paying jobs to go abroad—a double whammy.

Compounding the problem is a low labor participation among women, who tend to experience gender pay gaps and a lack of support in advancing their careers.

In 2013, Japan added flexibility to its retirement age of 60 to allow employees to keep working until they turned 65 if they so wished. The measure drew backlash from companies that saw the additional five years as a cost burden. To work around the provision, some began rehiring workers with new contracts, often with lower pay and worse conditions, after they turned 60. One of the companies doing so was Sumitomo Chemical, which made employees to reapply for their jobs after they turned 60, but paying them only 40% to 50% of their salary. But a shortage of labor is making older employees more desirable, and Sumitomo Chemical will gradually raised its retirement age to 65 from the current 60 with full pay. ...continue reading

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