Japan's seniors find second working life abroad

Lifestyle Jul. 22, 2012 - 06:15AM JST ( 6 )

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6 Comments

2

almxxJul. 21, 2012 - 08:03AM JST

The thing to do after retirement is to stay retired and not use up your remaining life being a further puppet to industry. Hold your loved ones dear and do whatever appeals to you that you can afford. Thank GOD every day if your spouse is still with you.
6

philly1Jul. 21, 2012 - 09:28AM JST

If all you have ever known and been valued for is your slavish devotion to your work and your company, it can be difficult to find meaning and purpose after retirement. If your spouse is still with you she may be fed up with you and the maid service she has consistently provided and not much comfort or solace. Having you and your needs around 24/7 may not be appealing. Bravo if you can set up a business and fill a niche.

People who retire do not lose their intelligence, their natural gifts and talents or their accumulated years of expertise. They have a great deal to give and the desire to contribute. Sadly, too often the rest of society wants to shuffle them off. What a waste.

The greatest disservice to humanity was that pop youth-cult notion perpetrated during the 60s that it was all over at 30. The wealth and depth that is lost when a retired person is pastured-out or dies is one of the unrecognized truths of our time. What if we utilized that and gave opportunities for people to contribute in 10 or 20 hour per week increments? Societies and governments lack the imagination to consider he numerous ways that vibrant people of a certain vintage can contribute to civic, educational, social, cultural and political programs. Our loss.
0

NeoJamalJul. 21, 2012 - 09:37PM JST

The answer came in the government-run Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a scheme that recruits volunteers between the ages of 40 and 69 to work abroad.

Volunteering is now calked work..HA!
2

philly1Jul. 22, 2012 - 12:44AM JST

A person's voluntary contribution is WORK. There are retired people who run events and organizations (especially in the non-profit sector) that are the size of small corporations, sometimes with hefty budgets to match. Not only is it work, it is often thankless work as few people appreciate and recognize the contributions. It seems that if it's "free" it's without value.

In general, society fails to utilize the potential contribution to schools, hospitals, prisons, civic organizations, cultural festivals, sport organizations and many other instances where 60+ workers could regularly alleviate the stress on the front-line workers by working short para-shifts at reduced hours for some pay. (Like the small stipend offered by the JICA organization.)

That child struggling to read or with math could have an individual coach-mentor an hour every day, hospitals--and numerous other institutions--could utilize assistants who do regular 10-15 hours a week in many areas such as IT and office skills, cleaning & recycling, guest services, guest speakers, mentors to new hires all sorts of roles. The potential list is endless.
1

sf2kJul. 22, 2012 - 04:37AM JST

Many countries do this. Ours is a branch off of CIDA, called CESO, Canadian Executive Service Organization. Retirees with their knowledge go abroad and help companies all over the world. Great experience for those who want to travel and apply what they know to those who need it. Can be quite rewarding as it's about action not money.
1

NeoJamalJul. 23, 2012 - 04:42PM JST

@philly1

I'm sorry, I was thinking of the Japanese definition.