Figure 1. Mean age of the workforce for selected industries in Japan, 1961-1995

Source:Ministry of Labour, Basic Survey of Wage Structure, various years.

economy, has undergone both in absolute and relative terms the greatest increase in the mean age of its workforce To partly cope with this rapid rise in the mean age of its workers, the manufacturing industry has been heavily utilizing robotics and other automated production technologies (Ogawa, 1982).

It is also worth noting that the government has recently set up a policy goal to reduce the annual hours of work per worker to 1,800 hours

BACK　　　CONTENTS　　　NEXT