Tokyo, Jan 10, 2013 - (ACN Newswire) - More than half of Japanese businesses have no plans to retain their mature-aged staff and about half say they place age restrictions on new hires, according to a survey by recruiting experts Hays.

Of the 200 hiring managers Hays recently surveyed in November 2012, 54 per cent are doing "nothing particularly" to retain mature employees who have extensive experience in the organization. Yet some of the employers surveyed acknowledge the importance of mature-aged workers transferring their knowledge to younger employees.

"This is a problem as there is an aging population of skilled professionals in many sectors, combined with a shortage of candidates at the intermediate level to replace them, meaning organisations will need to address the issue of knowledge retention and proper succession planning over a period of time," says Christine Wright, Operations Director for Hays in Asia.

"Strategies to pass existing skills and knowledge from senior to intermediate staff, such as mentoring, should be strongly considered, for example.

On a positive note, 31 per cent of employers are offering flexible hours to retain their mature-aged employees while 11 per cent are training HR staff to improve awareness on diversity-related topics such as age.

However, the survey also revealed that 47 per cent of employers have age restrictions in place when hiring and 46 per cent say would not hire a mature-aged worker, aged 60 and over, even if their qualifications matched the role.

Of the employers surveyed 44 per cent currently employ less than 10 mature-aged staff, while 15 per cent employ 11 to 20 workers aged over 60. Yet 72 per cent of the businesses surveyed have between 100 and 10,000 employees. However, the current rate of mature-age hires is an improvement on the previous year - 76 per cent of organizations say they employed less than 10 of these workers in the past year and 7 per cent hired only 11 to 20.

"Obviously some employers still do not realize how important it is to effectively utilize this demographic to keep their businesses competitive in the aging society - one fifth of the population is now aged 65 and over," says Christine.

"If employers are to be truly diverse they need to be open to hiring and retaining this important talent pool of mature-aged workers. The 60s are now the new 50s - they are a lot more active than before and still have a lot to offer.

"Having people remain longer in the workforce will also help boost the economy, making more disposable income available - it's also the same reason we encourage women with children to also stay in the workforce."

This Hays survey on Age in the Workplace is the third conducted by Hays in its Diversity in the Workplace Thought Leadership Series - the first survey focused on Women in the Workplace. Please click here ( http://www.hays.co.jp/en/press-releases/HAYS_043400 ) to see those results. The second on the Disability in the Workplace can be seen here ( http://www.hays.co.jp/en/press-releases/HAYS_080905 ).

Hays, the world's leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

About Hays

Hays is the leading global specialist recruiting group. It is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide.

Hays Specialist Recruitment Japan KK ("Hays") is the largest foreign recruitment company in Japan and operates across the private sector, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. Hays has been in Japan for more than a decade, and boasts a track record of success and growth.

Hays is the only foreign recruitment company in Japan to operate specialist business units composed of professionals with experience and expertise in the sectors they cover. Hays Japan's thirteen specialisms span Accountancy & Finance, Banking, Finance Technology, Human Resources, Hays Resource Management, Information Technology, Insurance, Legal, Life Sciences, Office Professionals, Property, Sales & Marketing and Supply Chain.

Hays is also the only foreign recruitment company in Japan to operate three local offices, serving the Kanto region from Akasaka and Shinjuku, and Kansai from central Osaka.

Hays Japan is the local representative office for Hays plc, which is a global company with more than 7,800 staff operating from 245 offices across 33 countries.

Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA.

Source: Hays

Contact:

Keiko Asakura
Hays Japan
Marketing Manager
+81 3 3560 2813
Keiko.Asakura@hays.co.jp