With some 2 million baby boomers set to begin retiring this spring, staffing companies are expanding their services to help them make a fresh start with a new job, or perhaps even a new lifestyle.

Industry giant Pasona Inc. will open "Agri-MBA School" in April to provide retirees with the knowledge and management skills necessary to start a new career in farming, a field that's becoming a popular new-start occupation among those approaching retirement.

	Three executives of a staffing service company in Osaka attend a meeting. The firm specializes in dispatching senior skilled workers as a temps to small businesses. Some 800 retirees, mostly from major corporations, are registered with the firm.

Participants will learn the history and issues surrounding agriculture in Japan as well as effective planning methods. The six-month 150,000 yen course also includes several days of fieldwork. The Tokyo-based company is accepting applications from those who have management experience and a strong interest in farming.

Pasona has seen rising demand at agricultural organizations for human resources who can use their corporate management capabilities in the field of agriculture.

On the other hand, an increasing number of near-retirees are fascinated by the idea of moving to the countryside to live a quiet, leisured life while farming there. But many of those lack agricultural knowledge and skills, and are hesitant to leave Tokyo.

More than 60 percent of middle-aged and elderly respondents to a survey by the Japan Employment Creation Organization Inc. answered that they are interested in farming as a post-retirement business. But they also responded that they feel the need for technical training as well as counseling before they get their hands dirty.

"Our school will benefit both sides (farmers and retired job-seekers)," said a Pasona official.

Japan's baby boomers were born in 1947-1949, and an estimated 2.2 million people will reach the retirement age of 60 this year. More than 6.7 million will turn 60 by 2009, cutting the nation's working population sharply. Since those retirees will become pension recipients in subsequent years, the burden on the pension system will increase. Employers, in the manufacturing sector in particular, also fret about losing a labor force with specialized knowledge and experience, which contributed to the country's economic growth.

In an attempt to improve the situation, the Ministry of Labor, Health and Welfare last year revised the Law for the Stabilization of Employment for the Aged and made it obligatory for employees to introduce one of a series of designated measures: An employer must either extend the mandatory retirement age in stages up to 65 years by 2013 in line with the rise of the pension qualification age; or allow employees to stay in the job if they wish to work even after 60; or eliminate the age limit.

Since no penalties are imposed on employers failing to comply with the revised law, many employees are expected to leave companies at the age of 60.

Some workers also want to retire from their companies once they reach 60 and take on something new at a different workplace. Many members of the baby-boom generation would also hate working under former subordinates, even if they are lucky enough to get the extension, according to staffing firms.

Yet, a majority of workers want to remain active in the workplace as long as possible regardless of their employment status.

Some 80 percent of respondents to the Japan Employment Creation Organization survey said that they want to keep on working after the age of 65. Pasona found that about half of those surveyed answered that they hope to stay in the workplace as long as they remain mentally and physically healthy.

Reflecting the survey results, the number of job-seekers aged 45 years or older has doubled since last year, according to Pasona. Daisuke Nakayama, head of Pasona's senior worker placement business, attributed the increase to the upcoming retirement of baby boomers and the recent trend among workers to think ahead to their second careers way before retirement.

The increasing demand in this field has drawn numerous companies into the business during the past several years.

In October 2005, Business Intelligence Co., an Osaka-based staffing company, began specifically targeting the baby-boom generation after it found out that people who have management experience and can act as the right-hand men of presidents are in great demand at small and midsize firms.

More than 700 people aged 55 to 64 are registered with Business Intelligence. Akihiro Koga, director of the company's related division, said, "Demand is outstripping supply."

That's not always the case, however. Dannet Inc., set up in August 2005 to specialize in the dispatch and placement of baby boomers, is facing a shortage of job openings. "The climate for aged job-seekers remains harsh," said Toshio Nakagoshi, marketing manager of Dannet. "Company executives agree to hire the elderly, but their employees don't want to work with them."

Professional Bank Inc. was established by former Pasona President Muneaki Ueda in October 2004 to focus on outplacement for those over 50 years old. The company in late January launched a special Web site for the age group.

To differentiate itself from major rival firms, Professional Bank keeps its commission at 900,000 yen a year, less than one-third of that of other companies.

Like Dannet, Takamichi Takamoto of Professional Bank warned that business organizations are not so eager to recruit workers in the age group and that the market has yet to mature. But he added, "The one big rationale behind our company's establishment was to raise awareness of the fact that there are resourceful, capable aged workers out there."

Meanwhile, demand for experienced senior engineers is growing amid an expected scarcity of skilled workers following the retirement of baby boomers. Meitec Corp., an engineering outsourcing company, formed a subsidiary, Meitec Experts Corp., in April 2006 to bolster its business dispatching retired engineers aged 60 years or older.

But before starting at a new workplace, the retirees need to acquire one more skill because many of them, especially those who held important managerial posts at well-known, established companies, won't be able to blend in to smaller firms so readily.

"The corporate culture at smaller firms is substantially different from that at major corporations, and it's vital that they change their mind-sets," said Koga of Business Intelligence.

To facilitate the transition, Business Intelligence and many other staffing firms hold training sessions for registrants to teach them the appropriate attitudes and outlook that will be required working at smaller companies.

Some staff agencies also looked at other potential needs arising from the retirement of baby boomers. Pasona created a subsidiary to provide workers and retirees over 50 years of age with health care, welfare and financial support programs to eliminate any unease they may feel over life after retirement.

The subsidiary, NARP Inc., was established jointly with Benefit One Inc., Tokyo Electric Power Co. and several others. NARP members can stay at affiliated hotels, sign up with vocational schools and enjoy discounts at health clinics in return for a 10,000 yen fee and a monthly charge of only 500 yen.

The Japan Times: March 19, 2007
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