Older Adults Looking for a Job through Employment Support System in Tokyo

Purpose of the Study: This study aims to clarify the job seeking process of the elderly people through the local employment support facility known as the Active Senior Employment Support Center (ASESC)”AKUTIBU SINIA SHUGYO SIEN SENTAA” in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and evaluate the performance as a complement to the national support systems. Methods: We conducted 6 waves of longitudinal mail surveys over 38 weeks to 235 older job seekers (146 males and 89 females, average age 63.7, SD 5.6), who visited two ASESCs for the first time, to clarify their living situation, health condition, and changes in their job seeking process. Results: These older job seekers tended to be at a relatively low education level and on low income, as well as tended to seek jobs for earning living expenses rather than for well-being. Half of them found employment in 35.0 days; however, 23.8% couldn’t find any job in 38 weeks, especially those who were younger and with higher education. Implications: ASESCs are functioning to assist older job seekers who are mainly seeking jobs for earning living expenses, which can be attained in a short time span and enable them to earn some money. These facilities are expected to be consulting services, not only for employment support but also for general living, because it is important to maintain contact with people who are at risk of social isolation, serious financial difficulty, or suicide. We consider it very helpful to encourage and re-activate these mismatched people, by supporting them to engage in highly contributional services to our society and the next generation, such as providing child-care support or daily life support, the demands for which are rapidly increasing due to recent governmental policies.