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

Landslide Hits Mount Fuji as Record Rain Causes Widespread Flooding

A landslide on Mount Fuji buried three vehicles as torrential rain battered wide areas of Japan on September 9, while Nagoya continued to assess extensive flooding damage a day after the city recorded its heaviest hourly rainfall on record.

Heavy Rain Intensifies From Tokai to Kanto

Heavy rain intensified across the Tokai and Kanto regions on September 9, with locally developed rain clouds bringing wind-driven downpours to Gifu Prefecture and steady rain to Tokyo, while forecasters warned that another round of strong rain could reach Kanto during the night.

Footage Shows Tokyo Flood Control Tunnel After Heavy Rain

Large volumes of floodwater poured into the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, following heavy rain on September 7, prompting the massive underground flood-control facility known as the "Underground Temple" to go into operation.

Osaka Metro to Abolish Magnetic Tickets and Shift to QR Code Tickets

Osaka Metro plans to abolish magnetic tickets and replace them with QR code-based tickets around fiscal 2031, as declining use and the cost of maintaining conventional ticket gates accelerate the shift toward digital fare systems.

Tickets for Asian Games Selling Fast

Ticket sales for the Asian Games are gathering pace with less than two weeks until the competition begins, with more than 60% of tickets sold for the opening ceremony and 31 sports as of September 7, although organizers say seats remain readily available for events including soccer and baseball.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Business NEWS

Rice Farmers Exit Business at Record Pace as Prices Fall

Closures and bankruptcies among Japanese rice farmers are running at a record pace in 2026, with 32 cases recorded from January through August as an aging workforce, rising costs and falling rice prices make it increasingly difficult for producers to remain in business.

Tokyo Stocks Lose Ground as Exporters Face Stronger Yen

Tokyo stocks edged lower on September 9, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 65,143, down 126.55 points, as a stronger yen and crude oil’s move toward $100 outweighed support from selected artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares.

Samsung Opens Semiconductor Research Center in Yokohama

South Korean semiconductor giant Samsung Electronics has begun full-scale operations at a new semiconductor research center in Yokohama, seeking to accelerate development and strengthen cooperation with Japanese suppliers as demand for chips used in artificial intelligence continues to grow.

Nikkei Drops 1,130 Points as Yen Surge Hits Exporters

Tokyo stocks fell sharply on September 8, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 65,269, down 1,130.51 points, or 1.70%, as a sudden surge in the yen hit exporters and forced investors to reassess the impact of faster Bank of Japan tightening on corporate earnings, equity valuations and the broader economy.

Yen Climbs to Six-Month High Near 152 Against Dollar

The yen strengthened to around 152 against the dollar on September 8, reaching its strongest level in about six months after gaining nearly 7 yen in roughly a week as investors focused on prospects for a narrowing interest-rate gap between Japan and the United States.

Japan's Real Wages Rise 2.4% in July for Seventh Straight Gain

Japan's inflation-adjusted real wages rose 2.4% in July from a year earlier, marking a seventh consecutive monthly increase as higher base salaries and easing price pressures improved workers' purchasing power.

Headwinds for Rakuten Mobile as KDDI Ends Roaming

Rakuten Mobile faces a new test of its network quality after KDDI decided to scale back roaming support from September 2026, ending access to its network in areas where Rakuten already has its own base stations while continuing service in mountainous and sparsely populated regions.

Homebuyers Grow Anxious as Japan's Mortgage Rates Rise

Japanese homebuyers are facing growing uncertainty as mortgage costs rise alongside a sharp increase in interest rates, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond briefly topping 3% last week for the first time in about 30 years.

< 2 3 4 5 >