A survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare found that 27.9% of companies had already taken measures to secure employment opportunities until the age of 70, an increase of 2.3 percentage points from the previous year.
As the number of elderly people increases, a law was enforced in April 2018 that obliges companies to make efforts to secure employment opportunities so that they can continue to work until the age of 70 if they wish.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare conducted a survey of more than 230,000 companies with 21 or more employees as of June last year.
According to this, 20.4% of large companies and 28.5% of small and medium-sized companies, and 27.9% of the total, are responding so that employees can continue working until the age of 70.
This is an increase of 2.3 points compared to the previous year.
Looking at the breakdown of measures to secure employment,
78.1% of companies that allow employees to work until the age of 70 chose to “introduce a continuous employment system,” ▽
14.0% chose to “abolish the mandatory retirement system,” and
▽ “retirement age .”
7.5%
answered "Increase in employment" and 0.1% answered "Introduction of outsourcing contracts and social contribution projects."
An official of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, "We believe that we have achieved a certain level of success by raising awareness about securing employment opportunities up to the age of 70. For companies, with the consent of labor unions, wages and personnel systems can be smoothly adjusted. I have heard that the issue is whether or not they can make the transition, and I would like to continue to provide support so that companies can improve their environment."