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The story
A survey finding that companies expect employees to stay “active” until an average age of 67.9 — with the oldest expected age being 91 — sparked reactions on 5ch’s News Speed+ board. Companies from the transportation and IT services sectors were quoted wanting staff to work “until 75” or “until around 70.” The thread saw plenty of complaints about the system where pay drops sharply after rehiring past retirement age, along with pointed criticism of the mismatch with the pension start age. At the same time, some worried about maintaining physical stamina and motivation for work, while others weighed in on FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) plans for their 40s — the discussion ranged from whether a long working life is even desirable to strategies for building assets.
◼ Survey on trends in companies’ expected “active working age”
When asked up to what age they’d like their own employees to stay active, the overall average came out to 67.9 years old.
Companies offered comments such as, “If someone is healthy and able to work, we’d like them to work until 75” (transportation/warehousing, Saitama Prefecture) and “In this era of 100-year lifespans, we’d like people to stay active until around 70” (IT services, Fukuoka Prefecture).
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
That's straight-up evil.
I don't want to keep working if rehiring means my pay gets slashed.
Exactly this.
What's the logic in cutting pay for the exact same job?
And pensions don't start until 65 while retirement age is still stuck at 60.
The pension system was designed around the last 20 years of life, after all.
Just at a manageable pace.
Quit working and you lose your sense of purpose and connection to society — you age fast after that.
Fine if they actually hire you as full staff with annual raises,
but it's probably contract-worker treatment anyway.
Do they even pay out condolence money or something?
They want you to work BECAUSE it's cheap!
Anyone who thinks they'll be able to live off their pension in the future is out of their mind.
No point paying into the pension then.
Better off just saving it yourself.
pay for data entry, glorified errand-running, gofer work, and professional meeting-attenders should be even lower.
This is a country where a 74-year-old woman wearing a hard hat falls to her death doing work at height.
Might actually be starting for real.
Maybe suggest they get checked out.
Companies are laughing all the way to the bank.
At my company that led to a flood of zero-motivation contract staff, so starting this year they switched to the same pay and performance reviews as full-timers.
Can't imagine spending my whole life working.
I'm 58 with over 100 million yen (~$650K USD) in financial assets —
so tell me how to actually retire.
The moment you turn 35, job listings crater to less than a tenth of what they were.
This makes no sense to me.
Once you fall off the track once, there's no way you can survive, right?
Should be fine if you're over 35.
Can't wait for retirement.
What's it feel like spending most of your life at a job like that?
FIRE-ing in your 40s is realistic now.
I never invested a yen because there used to be this vibe that investing was somehow shady.
Started a few years ago, but I doubt I'll get much benefit from compounding at this point.
People who started buying stocks right when an LDP administration change looked like a lock
probably have a high rate of becoming 'oku-ri-bito' (yen-denominated stock millionaires).
looking at Japanese society as a whole, there's no way I actually can lol
> 'just finished'
Did they pass away?
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Under Japan’s Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons, companies are legally required to secure employment up to age 65, while ensuring work opportunities up to age 70 remains only a “best-efforts” obligation. It’s easy to misread the survey’s 67.9-year figure as a company promise — it’s merely an “expectation,” not a commitment to better treatment. The thread’s main split was over whether cutting pay after rehiring is justified: some criticized it as a cost-cutting tactic, while others cited real examples of companies restoring full-employee treatment. Many also pointed out the persistent gap between the pension start age (generally 65) and the retirement/rehiring system, fueling frustration that the system hasn’t caught up with people’s willingness to keep working. Meanwhile, thanks to NISA and a changing investment climate, some posters discussed FIRE-ing in their 40s — a value system coexisting in the very same thread alongside the assumption of working long into old age.
※This article is compiled from excerpts and summaries of the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “‘We Want You Working Until 70,’ Companies Admit — Average Expected Retirement Age 67.9, Oldest Worker 91.”
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