For the Japanese, work provides meaning to life, in Finland half do not want to work after retirement.
More and more Finns feel that working gives meaning to life and that’s why they continue it, even if they could retire.
The change is clear, although of course still half of Finns do not want to do any work after retirement.
Even in the Nordic countries, we are the first to retire and leave working life. Saatikka, if compared to Japan, where I recently visited to talk to researchers and workers who have passed retirement age.
In Japan, work is continued up to 100 years old.
The Japanese continue to work for two reasons. Another is that a working career is often seen as a lifelong career. Working is a path that is traveled. But the important thing is not the destination but the journey.
Another reason is financial. Especially sole proprietors and employees of small companies cannot get by in retirement.
The Japanese elderly people I interviewed stated that work brings ikigai, meaning to life. On the other hand, a taxi driver in his seventies stated that he works for a little pocket money, but also because a person has to do something, so as not to remain idle.
In Finland, earning a living is a reason for few pensioners to continue working. Still, financial difficulties play a role, as the attached survey shows.
Therefore, retirement age is not for more and more people mean an automatic transition to a leisurely retirement. Many people who have reached retirement age continue to work, and there are even more willing ones than those who have ended up working.
The motivation is often the same reasons as during the working career: interesting and meaningful tasks, the desire to use and share one’s own skills and maintain social relationships in the work community. This is what a specialist researcher at the Institute of Occupational Health says Mervi Ruokolainen. Working in retirement supports many people’s ability to work and health, bringing routine and content to life.
It seems that Finns’ attitude towards working and retirement age is gradually changing.
But do attitudes also change in the workplace? Age discrimination often comes up in connection with the topic. Mervi Ruokolainen reminds that the work load and the variety of tasks affect how enthusiastically employees continue their careers after retirement age. In addition, it is important that supervisors understand and take into account the questions and wishes related to the different phases of the working career.
That is: when you don’t have to work at retirement age, good management and thus a good job can make people stay.
In Japan, the elderly working is one of the government’s declared solutions to the labor shortage and the problems of the dependent relationship. The country has the world’s oldest population – after Monaco. Finland also ranks among the top in Europe in terms of aging population.
Based on the population structure, Finland also faces quite a labor shortage.
What would you do yourself? Would you like to retire or continue working? Comment.