Half of male company employees want to work until at least age 70

Survey conducted by Robert Walters Japan

On June 23, specialist professional recruitment firm Robert Walters Japan announced the results of a survey on working beyond the retirement age. From April 2025, all companies in Japan will be required to allow employees who wish to continue working until the age of 65 to do so. A total of 728 active full-time employees in their 20s to 60s, working for Japanese companies and foreign-affiliated Japanese corporations, responded to the survey.

Most common retirement age in both foreign & Japanese companies: 60 years old

When asked about their company's retirement age, the most common answer among employees working for Japanese companies was “60 years old” (50%), followed by “65 years old” (27%). Fifteen percent responded that their company has no mandatory retirement age. On the other hand, the most common responses from employees of foreign-affiliated companies were “60 years old” (41%), “65 years old” (32%), and “no mandatory retirement age” (17%). The results show that many companies, both Japanese and foreign-affiliated, have adopted a mandatory retirement age of 60. Only a small number of Japanese (3%) and foreign-affiliated companies (2%) have adopted a mandatory retirement age of 70.

20s and 30s group want to retire early; Half of male employees want to work until at least 70

When we asked respondents until what age they would like to continue working, the willingness to work until the age of 60 varied by age group. Those in their 20s and 30s were the least likely to continue working beyond the retirement age, with 29% responding they would like to work “before 60 years old” and 25% responding “until 60 years old.” For employees in their 40s and 50s, 34% wanted to work “until 65 years old” and 29% wanted to work “until 70 years old” (29%). Among active senior employees in their 60s, “until 70 years old” (44%) and “until 65 years old” (25%) ranked first and second, respectively. Surprisingly, few respondents in the same age group responded that they would continue working even over the age of 70 (23%).

Broken down by gender, about 33% of male employees said they would like to work “until 70 years old” while 29% would like to work “until 65 years old.” On the other hand, the most common responses among female employees were “until 65 years old” (33%), “until 70 years old” (18%) and “71 years old or later” (18%). Around 1 in 5 male employees said they would be willing to work over the age of 70. When combined with those who responded “until 70 years old,” more than half of male employees said they would be willing to work until the age of 70.

(Survey period: 26 April – 2 May 2022, Target: Company employees registered with Robert Walters Japan and living in Japan n=728)

Press Release(PDF)

About Robert Walters Japan:

Established in London, United Kingdom, in 1985, Robert Walters is a specialist recruitment consultancy with operations in 32 countries around the world. Robert Walters Japan established its Tokyo office in 2000 and Osaka office in 2007.  For over 20 years, we've been a driving force in the Japanese bilingual recruitment market, providing high quality candidates for our clients and access to the best jobs. Our consultants are experts in their respective industries and work in teams to provide recruitment consultation services across a wide range of industries and job categories.