As part of the efforts for social security reforms in an "era of 100-year life" that were pledged by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race, the government is reportedly set to launch discussions for promoting the employment of people aged 65 and up. Currently businesses are required to continue to provide employment for workers who have passed the mandatory retirement age — 60 at most companies — until they reach 65, the age at which they in principle become eligible to receive public pension benefits if they so wish.

As the nation's aging and declining population rapidly reduces the pool of people in their so-called productive years between 15 and 64, it makes sense to allow elderly employees who are healthy enough to remain in the labor market to keep working, both to make up for the manpower shortage and to sustain a social security system that is under pressure from the nation's demographic challenges. In fact, as people 65 and up have come to account for a record 28.1 percent of the population — and those 70 or older occupy more than 20 percent of the total for the first time — the number of people aged 65 and up with jobs (including company executives and self-employed people) has reached a record 8.07 million, or 12.4 percent of the labor force.

There are obstacles, however, that must be overcome to retain more senior citizens in the labor market. Even as they rely increasingly on senior citizens to fill their manpower needs, companies in general remain cautious toward expanding any obligations to retain them as they fear it would increase their manpower expenses. Instead of extending or abolishing the mandatory retirement age, most employers rehire post-retirement workers under new conditions — and often at greatly reduced pay. Lawsuits have been filed against the practice, with the plaintiffs charging that it runs counter to the "equal work, equal pay" principle since many re-hired elderly workers engage in the same work that they had been doing earlier. If indeed the nation is to encourage senior citizens to remain in the workforce longer, they should be given better employment conditions.