Politics & Government

More Retired Japan Govt Employees Want to Work after Age 65

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Prime Minister’s Office

Jiji Press

12:42 JST, March 21, 2024

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Over 35% of retired Japanese government employees want to work after reaching the pension payment starting age of 65, a survey by the National Personnel Authority showed.

The figure was up 7.5 percentage points from the previous survey in 2020. “More people are willing to work for a long time,” an official at the agency said.

The latest survey was conducted in September and October last year on 7,144 people who retired at the age of 60 at the end of fiscal 2022. Responses were received from 5,233 people, or 73.3%.

The survey showed that 83.3% of the respondents said they want to work after retirement. The most common reason, cited by 85.7% of the respondents, was to maintain their standard of living.

The Japanese government plans to extend the retirement age for national public servants by one year every two years, starting in fiscal 2023. The age will be 65 in fiscal 2031.

The move is designed to utilize the knowledge and experience of senior citizens as well as to cope with a serious labor shortage amid an aging population.