Japan’s older workers are motivated to work longer

40.2% of Japanese people aged 60 and above want to work or continue in their jobs, a government survey has found.
By: | June 16, 2021
Topics: DE&I | Japan | News | Recruitment

Japan’s older workers are more willing to work than their counterparts in three other countries, finds a government survey.

Japanese aged 60 and above are more motivated to work, with 40.2% stating that they wanted to work or continue in their jobs, according to the government’s annual report on the ageing society. This compares to the United States (29.9%), Germany (28.1%), and Sweden (26.6%). 

Adopting flexible work styles, including telework, will be needed to allow more of Japan’s older workers to remain in the workforce, says the report. 

The survey was conducted from December last year to January 2021 on 1,367, 1,006, 1,043 and 1,528 seniors aged 60 and older in Japan, the U.S., Germany and Sweden, respectively.

READ: Japan pushes for higher wages across regions

The employment of older workers has been increasing in the past decade. In 2020, the employment rate for people aged 65 or older registered a record high of 25.1%, writes The Japan Times. 

Japan’s population as of October 1 last year registered 125.71 million people, which includes 36.19 million people aged 65 or older, representing 28.8% of the country.