Japan's seniors to workplace fore as population ages

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081115/lf_afp/lifestylejapanseniorseconomy_081115192331

by Miwa Suzuki Miwa Suzuki – Sat Nov 15, 2:23 pm ET AFP/File – A Big Mac is displayed at a Tokyo McDonald's in 2007. As Japan's population rapidly ages, a growing … TOKYO (AFP) – At age 68, virtually everyone in Japan is retired. But not Setsuko Katayama, who is dishing out crisp, golden French fries at a Tokyo McDonald's.

As Japan's population rapidly ages, Katayama is one of a growing number of elderly people finding themselves in new roles -- everything from working in fast food to being wooed by the cosmetics industry.

"I want to continue working as long as I'm physically fit," Katayama said as she prepared to start her morning shift.

"If I stayed at home, I would just be watching TV all day. I could take some lessons every day or see friends to chat, but it would be boring," she said, sporting a hat with the Golden Arches of the fast food giant.

"Since I have no children, I hardly see young people around me," she said. "It wasn't until I started working here that I understood what they are like."


Japan long rigidly enforced a retirement age of 60, hoping to let the next generation of workers fill the corporate ranks.

But as the workforce shrinks, people are staying at their jobs for longer, mostly in part-time or advisory roles.

Katayama is one of 3,500 part-timers aged 60 or older at 3,700 McDonald's outlets across Japan. Some outlets have employees in their 80s.

"Some workers in this store are older than me. I think I'm still young," she said.

One in every five Japanese is aged 65 or older and the ratio is expected to rise to almost one in three by 2025 as the country's birth rate is among the lowest in the world.

Japanese women, thanks partly to a traditionally healthy diet, are the world's longest-living people with an average lifespan of more than 85 years.

McDonald's Co. (Japan) Ltd. believes senior workers have special attributes.

"We have regular customers who come in at the same time of the day. Senior workers are good at having chats with them," spokeswoman Miwa Yamamoto said.

The chain's youngest employees, aged 15, are also picking up good habits from their older colleagues, she said.

Other industries are also recognising the crucial contribution that older workers can make, both to businesses and the retail economy.

At 60, Bibari Maeda may have thought that her modelling days were over. But not in Japan. The country's top cosmetics maker Shiseido this month mobilised Maeda -- a poster girl for the company 42 years ago -- to promote its skin-care brand Elixir Prior for women in their 60s.

"Many senior people have hearts strikingly younger than their actual ages and are leading fulfilling lives physically and mentally," Shiseido president Shinzo Maeda said as his company unveiled the new product line.

However, he is also no doubt mindful of commercial realities in his industry that saw Japanese women aged 60-69 spend 670 billion yen (6.8 billion dollars) on cosmetics in 2007. This was up four percent from the previous year and now accounts for nearly one-fifth of the total market, according to Shiseido.

Targeting seniors also makes commercial sense as those born in the late 1940s baby boom are entering their 60s at a time when Japan's overall population is shrinking.

Convenience store giant Seven-Eleven last year doubled the size of price tags on shelves of its 12,000 branches across Japan to help its rising number of elderly customers read them more easily. The company also delivers calorie-controlled health-conscious meals to elderly customers.

But Japan's ageing society has also raised massive problems for the government. The country's pension scheme has been under intense pressure with more payouts and fewer younger contributors. Medical costs are also rising, an issue that helped bring down a prime minister earlier this year.

In another trend that is often overlooked, crime by the elderly has risen four-fold from a decade ago because of money worries, loneliness and difficulty caring for elderly, sick relatives.