NHK has learned that one of Japan's biggest life insurance companies plans to raise its retirement age to hold onto workers, a growing challenge for businesses in the country.
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance says it will negotiate with the labor union to extend the final working age from 65 to 70, not including sales staff. It hopes to make this change from fiscal 2027.
The company already raised the age from 60 to 65 in fiscal 2019.
It introduced a system two years later to allow people to keep working on contract until 70.
Japan's workforce has been steadily shrinking.
The market for switching jobs has been picking up at the same time.
Meiji Yasuda says it aims to bring in young workers, even as it pushes back retirement, to ensure it has enough people.
A law came into effect in 2021 encouraging companies to allow workers to stay on until 70.
More businesses began introducing reemployment systems as a result. But Meiji Yasuda says it is the first major financial institution to extend the retirement age to 70.