Human Resource Management in Ageing Societies

A declining and ageing work force poses severe challenges to workers, companies and policy makers. Older worker have to be motivated to stay in the work force. Companies have to adjust their human resource management and development practices to allow for the employment of elderly workers. Labour market policies and public pension systems have to be reformed to support necessary adjustments at the worker and company level. The book brings together leading experts in the field from Japan and Germany to present and discuss how the challenges are coped with in their respective country. Based on recent surveys and statistical analyses, the articles describe employment trends at market and firm levels, investigate the impact of employment practices, labour market policies and pension systems and derive policy recommendations. As Japan and Germany experience the fastest demographic change among industrialized economies, the analysis may serve as reference for other countries.

H. Conrad, V. Heindorf & F. Waldenberger
Demographic Challenges for Human Resource Management Practices and Labour Market Policies in Japan and Germany – An Overview

U. Backes-Gellner & S. Veen
Aging Workforces and Challenges to Human Resource Management in German Firms

A. Seike
Pensions and Labour Market Reforms for the Ageing Society

B. Wolff, M. Gunkel & S. Wenzke
Effects of Institutions on Human Capital Investment: A Comparison of Policies in Japan, Germany and the USA

I. Ohashi
Labour, Income and Poverty among Elderly Japanese

Y. Higuchi & I. Yamamoto
The Employment of Older Workers in Japanese Firms: Empirical Evidence From Micro Data

J. Nakamura
Effects of Support Measures on Employment of Elderly People in Japan

H. Luczak & M. C. Stemann
Ergonomic Design and Intervention Strategies in Health Promotion for Ageing Workforces

K. Nakamura
The Performance-based Salary System and Personnel Management Reforms in Japan

G. Naegele
Paradigm Changes in Labour Market Policies for Older Workers in Germany – Background Factors and Recent Developments

N. Shintani
Towards ‘Ageless’ Employment Policies – A Union’s Experience of the Extension of the Mandatory Retirement Age

HARALD CONRAD is Sasakawa Lecturer in Japan’s Economy and Management at the University of Sheffield’s School of East Asian Studies, UK. From 2000-2008 he worked in Japan as Deputy Director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies and Associate Professor at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. He has published widely on Japanese social policy and human resource management.

VIKTORIA HEINDORF is research and teaching associate at Munich University, Germany, specializing in the Japanese economy. She was a Visiting Research Scholar at The University of Tokyo for several years and has received scholarships from the German Institute for Japanese Studies and the Japan Foundation for conducting field research in Japan. Her recent projects focus on technology change, product development, organizational and human resource issues.

FRANZ WALDENBERGER is Professor of Japanese Economy at Munich University, Germany. He has published several books and many articles on the Japanese economy and business covering labour, finance, corporate governance, economic policy and trade. He lived and worked in Japan from 1992 to 1997 and has been a visiting professor at various Japanese universities.