Rengo Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Kita-ku, Osaka; Chairman, President & CEO: Kiyoshi Otsubo) announces that it will make 65 years the mandatory retirement age effective April 2019.

The current mandatory retirement age is 60 years, but a program for re-employment until the age 65 was introduced in 2005 prior to the enactment of legislation. Since the amended Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons came into effect in 2013, in principle Rengo has re-employed all employees who wish to continue working until age 65 years.

In conjunction with a declining birth rate and aging population, Japan has a shrinking workforce, and encouraging work by older employees as a part of work style reforms is an important issue.

Rengo promotes the diversification of its human resources with the aim of being a company where all personnel can demonstrate their individual capabilities to the maximum degree, regardless of sex, age, disability, nationality, and so on. Following repeated and vigorous deliberations with the labor union with “lifelong activity” as a shared slogan, Rengo recently decided to introduce a 65-year mandatory retirement age to encourage employment of older workers.

Policy provides that employment conditions such as salary and bonuses after the age of 60 will remain unchanged from those up to age 59, and mandatory ages for managerial personnel to step down from their positions will not be set.

Going forward, Rengo will advance work style reforms and pursue even greater growth and development by enabling all personnel to demonstrate their capabilities to the maximum extent through “lifelong activity” until age 65 while maintaining employee health and motivation.