More Japanese firms hiring people aged 65 or older
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The number of corporations keeping employees beyond age 65 is on the rise.
Despite the economy being on the course of recovery, improving the nation’s employment rate, it is still quite difficult for the freshly graduated to find work.
On the other hand, it seems that there are many companies keen to retain seniors with rich work experience and vast personal networks.
Beginning this month, Daiwa House Industry Co. is adopting a new employment system allowing for continued employment with no retirement age cap.
Employees of age 65 or older will be eligible for part-time contracts — working four days a week with a fixed monthly salary of 200,000 yen (US$1,673) and bonuses of about half as much as those earned by regular employees.
From among about 30 people who had reached the retirement age in March, the company has kept nine people, a company official said.
Effective this month, machinery tool trading company, Trusco Nakayama Corp., raised its retirement age from 63 to 65, and its post-retirement extended employment age cap from 65 to 70. The aim is to boost employee morale with the promise of stable employment.
Tokyu Livable, Inc., a real estate agency, introduced a system in April 2014 whereby employees who meet certain criteria are hired as contract workers for a maximum of five years until age 70.
Under the revised Law for the Stabilisation of Employment of Elderly People that took effect in April 2013, companies are obligated to set up a system by fiscal 2025 to retain anyone who wishes to continue working until age 65.
On top of that, plenty of smaller businesses are also opting to hire new employees over the age of 65.
Although employment overall has made gains, Naoko Horie of the Mizuho Research Institute said, “As students’ major company-oriented aspirations are strengthened, mid- and small-sized companies have no choice but to hire more elderly people as they cannot secure younger people.”
From the company side, however, hiring seniors who have passed retirement age may lead to an increase in personnel costs. Therefore, some companies are hesitant to hire people who are 65 years old or above.
