For Japan's seniors feeling the squeeze of inflation, every little bit helps

Among the Group of Seven nations, Japan has consistently maintained the highest percentage of people over age 65 who still work.

Between 2013 and 2023, moreover, OCED data found that the percentage of working seniors in Japan relative to the total worker population rose by around 5%, to approximately 25%. In contrast, Germany, Italy and France are below 10% and only the United States exceeds 15%.

Broken down by specific age groups, the figure was was 52.0% for those aged 65 to 69, 34.0% for those aged 70 to 74, and 11.4% for those who are 75 or older. According to Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, all of these set new records.

While changes in corporate hiring practices have enabled more workers to stay on the job after the mandatory retirement age, the major factor for the recent increases is due mostly to fewer younger workers, a result of Japan's declining birthrate.

As one part of the growing phenomenon, the employment market for seniors has also changed. Asahi Geino (Oct 17-24) looked at a Tokyo-based employment service named Timee Inc, which as of the previous July had some 40,000 individuals over age 65 registered as available for part-time work. Since 2020, the number of seniors registered with the company has effectively doubled each year.

Timee specializes in placing older workers at what is described as "niche jobs," irregular types of work that in the past might have tagged such workers as incidental laborers.

One such position, for example, called for workers to make the rounds of convenience stores, usually by bicycle, to collect discharged rental mobile batteries, which are then recharged by the vendors and returned to the stores. Such workers receive between ¥55 and ¥70 per battery. Typically such part-timers would earn around ¥7,000 on a good day.

That amount might not seem like much, but for people on pensions feeling the pinch of consumer price inflation, it can certainly help.

A 47-year-old comedienne who goes by the name Weiwei tells the magazine that between gigs, she makes ends meet by working as a "professional arbeiter," having tried her hand and over 20 different types of jobs.

"I usually work on stage in the evenings or attend auditions, so I need to keep myself available, so I look for part-time work with short hours," she said.

"Recently the number of self-service retailers have increased, and demand service jobs like waitress or busboys has declined, and seniors have also been affected by this downturn," Weiwei explains. "One type of work I've done is monitoring the deep fryer in the kitchen. Looking at all the oily foods is enough to make you lose your appetite, so to anyone who wants to lose weight, I advise working in a tonkatsu restaurant," she chuckles.

Weiwei's mother, who is over 70, works part-time as a custodian at a public park.

"She sends before-and-after photos from each cleanup location. It's an appealing type of work that a person can fit to their own schedule," she said.

While it is commonly believed that "Yuru-kyara" (costumed mascot characters that perform at events) are typically younger people, more seniors have been taking on such roles.

According to Weiwei, such a gig can pay as much as ¥15,000 for four 20-minute appearances (80 minutes in total, with breaks interspersed between the appearances). One downside is that the costumes are said to feel like "saunas" during the summer months, but seniors, particularly those who like children, are well suited to such jobs, especially if they are short in stature.

Another job is serving as product testers (called "monitors" in Japanese). One such item would be adult dignity pants. After wear, the used pants are carefully wrapped (presumably to prevent leakage) and shipped back to the manufacturer along with a completed questionnaire. This earns a monitor ¥8,000.

As more seniors seek to hold the line on inflation by supplementing their pensions and savings, these sorts of niche jobs, timed to meet their individual schedules, may help them remain active while imposing minimal work-related stress.

© Japan Today