Gov’t to urge firms to hire employees until age 70 amid labor crunch
FILE PHOTO: People walk at an office building at a business district in Tokyo, Japan, February 29, 2016. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/File Photo
The government said Wednesday it plans to urge companies to hire employees until age 70 as part of measures to address a severe labor shortage amid Japan’s rapidly graying population.
Many companies in Japan set a retirement age of 60, but employees are legally allowed to work until 65 if they desire and employers are obliged to rehire them.
One in every three people in Japan is expected to be 65 or older in 2025, government data showed.
The government has already introduced a series of steps to make up for the labor shortfall, such as bringing in more foreign workers and promoting women’s participation in the labor market.
Still Japan is expected to face a shortage of 6.44 million workers in 2030, according to an estimate by Persol Research and Consulting, and Chuo University.
Among the 66.64 million workers aged 15 or older last year, 8.62 million, or 13 percent, were 65 or older, the government said.
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