OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. on Tuesday said it will ostensibly extend its de facto mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 by re-employing some of its retirees.
The new system will apply to Matsushita's full time employees who reach 60 in 2001, and the electronics giant said it expects about 5,000 employees to apply for re-employment for five years. The rehiring will be done under one-year contracts renewable each year for a total of five years, the firm said.
With the eligible age for public pensions to rise from 2001, Matsushita hopes to get more out of its skilled employees by simultaneously implementing the rehiring system.
It is calculated that about 1,500 Matsushita employees per year will reach retirement age from 2001, the company said.