More companies in Japan extend retirement age to 70

[Anchor]

Aging population and declining population...

Japan, which shares similar concerns as Korea, is experimenting with a plan to extend the retirement age to 70 years.

Currently, about 30% of all companies allow employees to work until the age of 70.

Our Tokyo correspondent, Hwang Jin-woo.

[Report]

The world's largest automobile company, Toyota, implemented a new personnel policy last August.

Employees who reach the retirement age of 60 and wish to continue working can be re-employed until the age of 70.

Before the new policy was implemented, only some employees could be re-employed until the age of 65, but it has now been expanded to all job categories up to 70.

[Miyazaki Yoichi/Toyota Vice President/Nov. 6: "We will listen to the voices from the field, the voices of our employees, and the voices of our business partners, and continue to invest in human resources and growth."]

Nitori, a famous furniture company in Japan, has also implemented a re-employment system allowing employees to work until the age of 70, and YKK, the world's largest zipper company, has abolished the retirement age altogether.

According to a survey conducted by the Japanese government, among 237,000 Japanese companies with 21 or more employees, 31.9% allow work until the age of 70.

Companies that have introduced a re-employment system account for 25.6%, those that have raised the retirement age to 70 account for 2.4%, and those that have abolished the retirement system account for 3.9%.

This is interpreted as a result of Japan's Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons, which has been in effect since 2021, encouraging companies to guarantee employment opportunities for employees until the age of 70.

It is essentially a preliminary measure towards the mandatory employment of individuals until the age of 70.

Currently, Japan's retirement system at 65 started as a recommendation for companies and has been established over a long period to make employment mandatory.

Reporting from Tokyo, this is KBS News Hwang Jin-woo.