As part of their efforts to reform the civil service, the government and the ruling coalition have agreed on a new system to regulate the future employment of retiring national public servants. In the upcoming Upper House election, the ruling coalition may use this agreement as proof of its earnest intention to reform the civil service. However, the agreement contains loopholes and other flaws. In addition, a related reform bill that will raise the retirement age of civil servants, introduce specialized positions with long tenures, and expand personnel exchanges between the bureaucracy and the private sector will not be submitted to the Diet until next year.

Under the agreement, government agencies and ministries will be prohibited from brokering new employment opportunities for retiring officials. Those organizations will be barred from arranging jobs not only in business enterprises but also in public-interest corporations and other nonprofit organizations. Instead, a "public-private human resources exchange center" will be established within the Cabinet Office in 2008. This center, which will go into full operation over a three-year period, will help retiring national civil servants find new jobs.

The establishment of the center is aimed at preventing former bureaucrats from landing jobs at enterprises or organizations in fields that once were under their jurisdiction. This practice, known as amakudari, or descent from heaven, has helped to maintain a cozy relationship between the bureaucracy and the private sector.