６５歳まで雇用 若者の仕事を奪わぬように

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Mar. 30, 2013)
Older Japanese must work longer without crowding out the young
６５歳まで雇用　若者の仕事を奪わぬように（3月29日付・読売社説）

The revised Law for the Stabilization of Employment of Elderly People, which requires companies to allow all employees to stay on the payroll until they are 65 if they wish to do so, takes effect on April 1.
　６５歳までの希望者全員を雇用するよう企業に義務付けた改正高年齢者雇用安定法が４月１日に施行される。

The revised law comes in conjunction with a gradual increase in the eligibility age for benefits under the government-run kosei nenkin corporate pension insurance scheme to 65 from the current 60, beginning from April. The revision was enacted in August last year.
　改正法は、厚生年金の支給開始年齢が４月以降、現在の６０歳から段階的に６５歳に引き上げられることに伴うもので、昨年８月に成立した。

The purpose of the legislation is understandable: the need to help people deal with a period in which they might receive no pension. It can be said the times we live in require companies to continue employing all of their elderly workers as long as they desire to stay on at their jobs.
　定年後に年金を受け取れない期間が生じるのを防ぐという狙いは理解できる。企業に対し、希望者全員の雇用継続を義務付けるのは、時代の要請と言えよう。

The current law calls for companies to make efforts to enable employees to work until the age of 65 after the retirement age of 60, either by abolishing the mandatory age limit, raising the age limit or implementing reemployment measures for retired workers.
　現行法も、６０歳で定年を迎えた社員が、定年の廃止か引き上げ、または継続雇用により、６５歳まで働けるよう企業に求めている。継続雇用を選択した場合、健康状態や働く意欲など、一定の基準を設けて選別できる仕組みだ。

When companies choose one of these reemployment systems, the current law is designed to enable the firm to set certain criteria in selecting employees eligible to continue working, such as health conditions and motivation for working.

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Elderly can boost economy

The latest revision to the system is mainly aimed at doing away with the stipulation of criteria, to ban companies from retaining only certain selected workers.
Under the revised law, the government will issue a warning to companies that fail to comply with the new system. If they then refuse to comply, the companies' names will be made public.
　今回の制度改正は、この基準規定を廃止し、選別を認められなくするのが眼目だ。政府は、違反した企業に勧告を行い、従わない場合は企業名を公表するという。

To be sure, the nation's average life expectancy has risen markedly and the health of people in their 60s has improved a great deal.
　確かに、平均寿命が伸び、６０歳代の健康状態は格段に向上している。

It is significant that people aged 60 to 64, who have so far been supported by the pension system, will instead be able to support the social security system by working and paying premiums for the pension program.
年金に支えられてきた６０～６４歳の人たちが、働いて税や保険料を納め、社会保障の支え手となる意義は大きい。

It is hoped that people in this age bracket will receive higher income and also engage in higher spending, thus boosting the country's economic growth.
　この年代の所得や消費が向上し、経済成長を後押しする効果も期待できるだろう。

However, a wide divergence tends to appear among people in their 60s in terms of their willingness and ability to work.
　だが、６０歳代では、能力と意欲の個人差が広がる。

It is reasonable that the business world at one time opposed mandatory continuation of employment up to the age of 65 on the grounds that the system would increase personnel costs, weighing on corporate management.
経済界が６５歳までの継続雇用の義務化に「人件費が増え、経営を圧迫する」と反対していたのも、無理はない。

It is of the highest importance to ensure companies under the new system never deprive young people of employment opportunities for the sake of continued employment of the elderly. They also must never use the system as an excuse to increase the number of nonregular workers.
　重要なのは、高年齢者の雇用維持を理由に若者の仕事を奪ったり、非正規雇用を増やしたりしてはならないということだ。

However, about 40 percent of employers responding to a poll said they will "curb employment of young recruits" following the implementation of the revised law.
　改正法施行で、「若年層の雇用を抑える」とした企業は約４割に上る、との調査もある。

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'Age of lifelong work'

To prevent the dynamism of society as a whole from dwindling, all companies are urged to use ingenuity to provide jobs for both young and old.
　社会全体の活力を低下させないようにするためにも、若者から高齢者まで、働く場の確保に各企業は知恵を絞ってもらいたい。

Many firms will have to make important judgments regarding allocation of personnel expenses, such as curbing pay raises for employees in their 40s and 50s.
４０～５０歳代の賃金上昇を抑えるなど、人件費の配分を工夫していくことになるだろう。

Meanwhile, the United States, Britain and Germany have already decided to raise their pension eligibility age to 67 or 68.
　年金の支給開始年齢について、米国やイギリス、ドイツは既に６７～６８歳に引き上げることを決めている。

Given that Japan has been graying more rapidly than these countries, it will be hard for this nation to avoid further raising the pension eligibility age beyond 65.
これらの国より早く高齢化が進む日本で、さらなる引き上げを避けるのは難しい。

Since the graying of society coupled with low birthrates will certainly be accelerated, people's working lives will most likely become longer. Under the circumstances, companies and workers alike must think hard about what should be done to prepare for the advent of an "age of lifelong work."
　一段と少子高齢化が進み、働く期間も一層長くなる。企業も労働者も「生涯現役社会」の到来を見据えねばならない。

We urge the government to work out and implement policies conducive to expanding employment by giving more teeth to measures for encouraging the development of industries with high growth potential.
　政府にも、成長産業にテコ入れし、雇用を拡充していくような戦略的な政策が求められよう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 29, 2013)
（2013年3月29日01時38分  読売新聞）