Japan: Workers Over 60 Increase to 10% of Workforce

According to survey results from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, workers aged 60 or older comprised 10% of full-time employees for the first time in 2008. In addition, almost 60% of employers had such senior employees. The 10% rate represented an increase of 2.4 points from 2004 and over doubling from the 49.% rate in 1992.

Among other findings, 50.2 per cent of responding businesses employed workers aged 60 to 64, 26.9 per cent employed workers in the age bracket of 65 to 69, and 15.6 per cent had people aged 70 or older on their payroll.

Smaller establishments tended to have more elderly workers, the ministry said. For example, the rate of senior employees there was 12.0 per cent at those employing five to 29 workers.

By sector, real estate had the highest rate at 18.1 per cent, followed by transportation with 14.9 per cent and mining with 13.7 per cent.

The survey also found that 89.1 per cent of businesses with a mandatory retirement age of 60 to 64 had programs to continue employing workers after the limit.

Source: Business Standard "60% businesses employed senior people in 2008: Poll" (August 21, 2009)

Japan: Retention of Older Workers Becoming More Difficult with Changing Evaluation Systems

A Japan government white paper has been released finding increased unhappiness among Japanese workers who have complaints over pay, lack of vacations and a decline in morale. Among other things, the paper also reports that retaining older staff has been a challenge for companies trying to avert a labor crunch.

According to a Reuters story on the paper, "older workers were switching jobs because they failed to get along with colleagues or were unhappy with how they were being evaluated at companies using performance-based management."

Under Japan's traditional lifetime employment system, employees were guaranteed promotions and pay increases as they grew older, regardless of performance.

"For an effective performance-based system, efforts are needed to improve the implementation of the wage system, such as making clear the basis for evaluation and providing detailed explanations for the assessments," the white paper said.

Source: Reuters "Japanese workers more unhappy, government report says" (July 22, 2008)

Japan: Government Falling Short in Ensuring that Employers Hire Older Workers

Kazuo Otsu, writing for the Daily Yomiyuri, examined whether the Japanese government is making good on its goal of a society in which people can continue to work regardless of their age. Japan's steps in this plan have included enforcing the revised Older Persons' Employment Stabilization Law in April 2006, under which companies are obliged to ensure there are job opportunities for workers up to the age of 65, effective April 2013, and implementing the revised Employment Measures Law to prohibit companies in principle from setting age limits for the recruiting of new employees.

According to Tomonari Higuchi, a business consultant in Yamagata Prefecture, "he often hears personnel managers referring to the difficulty of hiring aged workers."

"There's a remarkable number of people who feel they are treated like redundant baggage," said Higuchi, 51. "While there has been progress on a legislative level, in general the genuine intent of companies to hire elderly workers remains low."

Otsu notes, for example, that one job-seeker in his t0's was told "We only have young employees working here" when telephoning a company offering jobs stating no age limit.

Some employers openly admitted that not indicating an age limit was just a matter of expediency. Though the government can issue warnings to companies found to be flagrant transgressors of the law banning most age restrictions, the law itself has no penalty clauses.

Source: Daily Yomiyuri "Work for elderly remains elusive goal" (May 8, 2008)

Survey: Talent Gap Widens as Workforce Ages in G7 Countries

According to a study conducted by Towers-Perrin on behalf of AARP, as the number of workers reaching traditional retirement years increase in the G7 countries, the marketplace is experiencing a decline in the number of skilled younger workers available to fill in the ranks of those retiring. Thus, suggests AARP, employers must end age discrimination in the workplace if countries and employers are to be best positioned to thrive in the global economy tomorrow.

The study--International Profit from Experience--was released in advance of a conference on the same sponsored by AARP, in partnership with the European Commission, the Business Council for the United Nations and Nikkei. Among the survey's key findings:

• Age discrimination is the single largest barrier for those 50+ who want to continue working past their anticipated retirement age, with at least 60% of employees 50+ in each G7 country viewing age discrimination as the primary barrier to securing new jobs;
• Older workers in the G7 countries want to continue to work on average an additional 5 years;
• Surges of immigration and productivity that might offset the anticipated decline in skilled workers are unlikely to occur; and
• Allowing employees to continue working past their traditional retirement age will not only allow older workers to remain in their careers and stay active, but will have a positive impact on an employer’s bottom line.

Line Vreven, Director of AARP International, says that “While the survey clearly identifies the talent gaps emerging within G7 countries, the responses by employers do not sufficiently address this challenge.” In addition, those "nations working to actively retain older workers and are providing incentives, rather than deterrents, to their continued employment, will reap economic gain in the long-run.”

An executive summary of the full 124-page report is also available.

Source: AARP Press Release (September 25, 2007)

Survey: Few Employers Are Taking Action to Recruit and Retain Older Workers; Manpower Offers Up Recommendations

According to a survey conducted for Manpower Inc. of more than 28,000 employers across 25 countries and territories, only 14% of employers worldwide have strategies in place to recruit older workers and only 21% have implemented retention strategies to keep them participating in the workforce.

The published results of the survey-- Older Worker Recruiting & Retention Survey--break down recruitment and retention by country and industry. Among different countries, employers in Japan and Singapore were far ahead of their international counterparts with 83% and 53% of employers surveyed, respectively, working proactively to retain their older employees; at the other extreme, in Italy and Spain, only 6% of employers had such strategies in place.

"Many employers have not yet recognized the need to forecast the percentage of their workforce that is set to retire in the next five to 10 years and planned ahead to stem the potential loss of productivity and intellectual capital that will occur when those people walk out the door," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman and CEO of Manpower Inc. "A surprisingly large number of organizations are still viewing upcoming retirements as cost- savings opportunities, but this is a dangerous and shortsighted view, as older adults will be relied upon as one of the most important sources of talent for the future workforce."

Simultaneously with the survey results, Manpower issued a white paper--"The New Agenda for an Older Workforce"--which explores the increasing reality of the global aging workforce, the resulting gaps in workforce supply, and the demand that this is creating. Among other things, the white paper proposes strategies that companies can adopt to circumvent these talent challenges; recommendations on how employers can help older employees extend their careers should they choose to do so; and suggestions for the role that governments can play to help solve the older worker conundrum.

Source: Manpower Inc. News Release (April 23, 2007)

Japan: Expert Group Calls for Boosting Number of Elderly Jobholders

Writing for the Daily Yomiuri, Junichi Abe reports that an expert study group of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy has called for boosting significantly the number of jobholders, especially among women and the elderly, by diversifying the ways people can work, and tailoring jobs to fit individual lifestyles and stages in life.

With respect to older workers, the report on formulating an "action guideline to change ways of working" recommended the the employment percentage for people aged 60 to 64 should be increased to 66% by 2017 from the current 53% and that, for those aged 65 to 69, it should be raised to 47% from the current 35%.

The report also clarified the roles the government should play to enhance the ratio of jobholders among the elderly.

It says if the government-proposed bill for revising the Employment Measures Law to ban, in principle, employment discrimination due to age is enacted, ministries concerned should lose no time in working out ways to ensure effective enforcement of the law.

Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun "New ideas for aging problem: Panel's plan calls for employers, govt to help changing workforce" (April 11, 2007)

Global Aging and Retirement: AARP Releases Country Surveys of Opinon Leaders

In conjunction with a conference on "Reinventing Retirement Asia: Enhancing The Opportunities of Aging" held in Tokyo March 15-16, AARP released a survey of opinion leaders in Asia and Oceania, which reveals that most believe their countries are ill prepared to deal with the challenges of an aging population. Although the survey report covers several aspects of aging and society, two core focuses were on older workers and retirement.

AARP's report--"Aging in Asia and Oceania: AARP Multinational Survey of Opinion Leaders 2006"--was prepared by Princeton Survey Research Associates International thrugh a survey of opinion leaders in the United States and in seven countries in Asia and Oceania. The survey was designed to increase AARP’s knowledge of aging issues and attitudes in key Asian markets and to compare attitudes and policies towards aging in the US to attitudes and policies in Asian and Oceanian societies.

According to the overall summary, opinion leaders vary as to the age at which a worker becomes an "older" worker:

Averaging 60 years of age among all opinion leaders interviewed, the average age at which opinion leaders would consider someone an older worker varies somewhat from country to country, ranging from a high of age 66 in Japan to a low of age 55 in Australia. Half of opinion leaders say that the transition to becoming an older worker occurs some time between the ages of 60 and 69.

Other key findings show that opinion leaders perceive older workers as wise, respected, and productive, but that "businesses do not see older people as a
potential source of productive labor and employers are not well prepared for a future workforce comprised of more older workers." Opinion leaders also say that it is a responsibility to society to address older worker issues, older workers should be accommodated, the mid-60's is an appropriate time to retire, and that there should not be mandatory retirement.

In addition to the full report, AARP has issued specific country reports for the United States and for these Asian or Oceanian countries:

• Australia
• China
• India
• Japan
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• South Korea

Source: AARP News Release (March 14, 2007)

Japan: "Silver" Workers Seen as Solution for "2007 Problem"

Chisa Fujioka, wrting for Reuters, reports on the growing demand for "silver" workers as Japan's population ages. Shigeo Hirano, president of staffing agency Mystar 60 Corp.--which specializes in finding jobs for those aged 60 and over, says "Japan's best engineers and technicians are leaving factories and offices for retirement."

"Companies are realizing that hiring the elderly is the only way to retain high levels of skills and expertise," added Hirano, himself a sprightly 63.

Fears of a labor crunch and a deficit of skilled workers are growing in Japan as baby-boomers start hitting the standard retirement age of 60 this year, in what Japanese media have dubbed the "2007 problem".

Another major staffing agency reports that both the number of elderly seeking work and the number of companies wanting to hire them have doubled since April 2006.

Source: Reuters "Greying workers wanted for hire in aging Japan" (January 1, 2007)

Korea: China and Japan Compete for IT Workers To Replace Aging Workers

Korea, which is having its own aging problems, is losing a significant number of workers to non-Korean employers overseas due to job shortages, according to DongA.com. Moreover, Korean companies are not making enough systematic efforts to retain workers.

China is eying Korea’s high-tech workforce who they think will boost its industrial growth. Grappling with an aging population, Japan is looking for workers who will help relieve itself of the burden of workforce shortages.
...
Japan is luring more Korean workers to enhance its IT competitiveness and resolve its workforce shortages problem caused by aging. Indeed, the Japanese government and businesses are making hard efforts to recruit Korean and Chinese IT workers under the second-phase “e-Japan” project whose main objective is Japan’s comeback as an IT powerhouse.

Source: DongA.com "China, Japan Inc. Recruiting Koreans" (December 23, 2006)

Japan: Companies Starting To Build Experience Hiring Older Workers Part-Time

An article in Kyodo News describes how one company is paying keener attention as a workforce and customer to baby boomers, whose massive retirement will begin next year. Specifically, Lawson, Inc. "plans to increase its number of middle-aged and elderly part-timers to 20 percent of such workers, now numbering about 150,000, within several years because it believes seniors are more likely to enter its outlets if there are shop employees of the same generation."

However, other companies lack experience in employing the middle-aged and elderly. "Masaru Okamura, a director of Tokyo-based Ten Allied Co. which operates Japanese-style pubs, said, 'Young shop managers don't have experience in supervising elderly people and don't know appropriate language to be used for them.' The company is now actively seeking older workers by offering bonuses, but creation of a workplace environment to truly bring out their abilities is still a work in progress."

Source: Kyodo News "Conflict between young and old over part-time jobs seen possible" (October 26, 2006)

Japan: Tripartite Committee Looking at Reemployment of Older Workers

Clement Mesenas, writing for TODAYOnline, reports that a tripartite team, comprising officials from the government and employer and employee groups in Japan is studying implementation of legislation to re-employ retired workers.

"We want to study the effects of legislation which was introduced in Japan in April--the hiccups, teething problems and all which have cropped up in the last six months," NTUC's director of industrial relations, Ms Joanne Cham Hui Fong, told Today in an exclusive interview.

The Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers, chaired by Minister of State for Manpower Gan Kim Yong, is expected to release a final report early in 2007.

If a re-employment scheme is introduced, it will apply to those 62 and above. Under current legislation, companies cannot retire someone at 60, but workers working until 62 do so with a wage cut of up to 10 per cent.

"The bigger issue we are dealing with today is how to promote the employment of older workers above 50 and the reemployment of retired workers beyond 62. Then we will have achieved the purpose of raising the effective retirement age," said Ms Cham.

Source: TodayOnline "Still a workforce to be reckoned with" (Octbober 16, 2006)

Japan: Businesses Responding to Need for Older Workers

Writing for The Japan Times, Ryohei Takeda follows up on the legal revision on stabilizing elderly employment that took effect in Japan in April, making it obligatory for firms to keep workers on the payroll in stages until age 65. Specifcially, he writes that the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that about 96% of firms with more than 300 employees have already introduced measures to extend employment.

However, Takeda notes, "the bulk of them rehired employees aged 60 with pay cuts of 50 percent or more." On the other side, the ministry said that less than 7% of businesses have gone so far as to either raise the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 or abolish it.

Source: The Japan Times "Workforce gears up to take in growing number of seniors" (August 2, 2006)

Japan: Slowing Retirement; Is It Working?

In an effort to slow retirements in Japan, the government recently revised legislation to require companies to choose one of three options: push back the retirement age to 65, abolish retirement age altogether or give would-be retirees the option to work part time. According to a Reuters report, a "survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare last month showed that 96 percent of companies polled had abided by those changes, but some economists expressed doubts that a fundamental change would occur."

"The legal changes are flawed because there's no punishment for failing to follow through with them," said Tomoyuki Ohta, senior economist at the Mizuho Research Institute. "I doubt the measure will stop many baby boomers from retiring, and once they're out of a job, it would be difficult for them to find new work with conditions they'd be satisfied with."

A Mizuho Research survey of 787 companies showed that on average, about 22 percent said they would continue employing all retirement-age workers who opted to stay, while the rest said they would keep only those qualified or deemed indispensable.

Source: International Herald Tribune "Japan tries to fill gaps before retirement surge" (July 10, 2006)

Aging and National Credit: Standard and Poor's Reviews Global Graying

On May 31, 2006, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services published a report outlining various simulations through 2050 of the fiscal and hypothetical sovereign ratings implications for 32 sovereigns, including all 25 EU members, as well as Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. While the commentary article "Global Graying: Aging Societies and Sovereign Ratings" is only available to subscribers to S&P's RatingsDirect, they have also been publishing country by country reports, some of which speak to aging workforce issues. Some of these (Germany, Belgium, France)are available for free to people who register at S&P's website and others have had some press coverage.

A key conclusion of the main report is the fall-out that ageing may have on government solvency. Without further adjustment either to the current fiscal stance or to pension and health care costs, the median general government net debt-to-GDP ratio for the sample will reach an overpowering 180% of GDP by the middle of the current century, from 33% in 2005.

Publically available country specific reports include:

• United States
• New Zealand
• Japan
  

Source: Globe & Mail "Nations get 'wake-up' call about aging workers" (June 6, 2006)

Japan: Justice Ministry Proposes Increasing Foreign Workers To Offset Aging Workforce

According to news reports, a Justice Ministry panel has recommended that Japan should limit the number of foreign workers allowed into the country and require those who are let in to acquire a command of the Japanese language.

Japan is debating ways to boost its aging workforce while taking into account public fears that admitting more foreign workers could lead to a rise in crime. Accordingly, the head of the panel, Vice Justice Minister Taro Kono, has suggested limiting the proportion of foreigners to 3% of the population, compared with 1.2% now. People with specialist skills should be favored over manual laborers, according to a ministry press release on the report.

Source: Reuters.com "Japan panel proposes limits on foreign workers" (May 31, 2006)

Japan: Older Workers Retunring to Labor Force

David Pilling, writing in the Financial Times, reports that people over 60 are being drawn back to the workforce as it rises for the first time in eight years. "The willingness of those who left the jobs market to re-enter also shows the mechanisms by which the labour market might respond to the challenges of an ageing society, which is shrinking the size of the traditional workforce."

According to official figures, by last year, there were 9.67m people aged 60 or over either working or looking for work, a 450,000 increase from five years earlier. He also writes that officials from The Bank of Japan say every business sector is now suffering from labour shortages, which could push up wages and lead to further hiring of people who had drifted out of the labour market.

Source: "Japan sees first rise in workforce in 8 years" Financial Times (May 1, 2006)

Europe's and Japan's Aging Populations Deterent To Participating in Coming Global Ecnomic Growth

Cisco Systems has released a report showing that, by the year 2020, a new global economic paradigm will emerge defined by the globalization of companies, the increased role of knowledge workers and the personalization of customer experiences as key factors to economic success, with the United States, China and India driving more than half of that growth, while economies of Europe and Japan due to aging workforces or relatively lower levels of productivity will be face challenges.

According to Foresight 2020 Economic, industry and corporate trends, prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the consequences of aging population dynamics will exert a
profound influence on economic development patterns. Some countries will age faster than others. Take the old-age dependency ratios (the over-65s as a share of the population aged 15-64). Whereas the ratio in the EU25 will reach almost one-third in 2020 (it was 25% in 2005), in the US it will rise to only 25%, from 19% in 2005. Japan’s fertility rate, at 1.3 births per woman of child-bearing age, is among the lowest in the developed world. By 2020, the old-age dependency ratio will have risen to 46% (from 29% in 2005). Among the potential risks are slower economic growth, financial-market instability and difficulties in funding pension systems. Countries will have to offset the rising share of pensioners by getting the unemployed into jobs, by making people work longer and by encouraging immigration. More women will be drawn into the workforce, too.

Source: News Release Cisco Systems, Inc. (March 30, 2006)

Japan: Population Decline Requires Rethinking Employment of Elderly

According to an article by Kenichi Aoyama/Kentaro Nakajima, Japan's Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's latest population survey is another reminder of the need to address an anticipated decline in the workforce as Japan is expected to experience a population decline of about 10 million people (to about 117.58 million by 2030). "To make sure Japan remains an economic power, it is imperative to step up efforts to improve labour productivity while also reforming this country's various systems, including the social security system."

Among other things, the ministry panel studying employment policies proposed aiding older people--those in their late 60s, for instance--in their efforts to find jobs. The article also notes that many experts have called for reforming this country's various systems to a1ccommodate a reduction in the population, including the education and pension systems, and quotes Hisakazu
Kato, an assistant professor of demographic economics at Meiji University, calling for Japan to "think about the importance of training personnel again, for instance by retraining the elderly and improving education programs for the young."

Source: "Population Report Shows Need For Action" e-Sinchew.com (July 29, 2005)