Kryptonians: Man of Steel

Chapter 1468 Tokyo Curls into a Dog

They dare not slack off at all, because once they relax, they may be surpassed by others and lose their job opportunities.

Even old men in their sixties have to carry briefcases and squeeze into the subway to travel everywhere.

Under the island nation's Employment Stability Act for Older Persons, the government is gradually raising the retirement age from 60 to 65 in an effort to address an aging population and labor shortages.

These old men originally thought that they could enjoy their retirement and family happiness when they reached 60 years old.

But now, they have to continue to fight at their jobs.

They get up early every day, squeeze into the crowded subway and go to work.

At work, although they are experienced, they do not have as much physical strength as young people and often feel exhausted.

But they dare not complain because they know that if they lose this job, it will be difficult to find a new one.

In the island nation, a discussion about the statutory retirement age has swept through society like a storm, sparking widespread and heated attention and discussion among the public.

The government has proposed further extending the statutory retirement age to 70, a move aimed at supporting more flexible retirement policies to cope with the increasingly severe problem of shrinking labor force.

In recent years, the island nation has faced the dilemma of an aging population, with the number of newborns continuing to decline while the proportion of the elderly population continues to rise.

This has resulted in a serious gap in the labor market, with many industries facing difficulty in recruiting workers.

In order to maintain the normal operation of the economy, the government has to consider extending the statutory retirement age, hoping to fill the gaps in the labor market by allowing the elderly to continue to stay in their jobs.

As soon as the news came out, it caused an uproar in society.

Some people support the government's approach, believing that extending the statutory retirement age is an effective way to solve the problem of labor shortage.

In their view, the elderly have rich work experience and professional skills, and allowing them to continue working can fully tap their value and create more wealth for enterprises and society.

Moreover, from the perspective of economic development, more labor force means higher productivity and greater economic vitality, which will help promote the continued growth of the island nation's economy.

However, more people expressed strong opposition to this policy.

They feel that extending the statutory retirement age will make life harder for the elderly and deprive them of their right to enjoy their later years.

For many elderly people, after working hard all their lives, they thought that when they reach retirement age, they could enjoy their old age, spend time with their families, and do what they like.

But now, the government wants them to continue working until they are 70 years old, which is undoubtedly a deprivation of their later years.

In today's island society, the seemingly inspirational phrase "live and work until old age" has become a true portrayal of the cruel reality.

In a sense, it seems to be in line with the positive concept of "life never stops, struggle never ends", however, if you explore it in depth, you will find that behind this struggle lies endless helplessness and sadness.

In this island nation with a dense population and relatively limited resources, the intensity of social competition is beyond imagination.

Here, the pressure of survival is like an invisible mountain, making people breathless.

In order to gain a foothold in this highly competitive society and to maintain a basic livelihood, people have to work hard, even when they are in their sixties or seventies.

In the streets and alleys of Tokyo, those gray-haired, hunched-backed elderly people are still walking among the busy crowds. They may be small employees in the company, coming to the office early every day to start a day of tedious work; or they may be small street vendors, sticking to their stalls in the cold wind just to sell more goods.

They are like tireless machines, running non-stop from early morning to dusk, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, with no time to stop and rest, and no energy to enjoy the beauty of life.

"If you don't do it, someone else will!"

These cold words reveal the cruel reality of the island society.

In this populous and highly competitive society, no one will feel sympathy for you just because you are old or in poor health.

Companies pursue maximizing profits, and they will only choose those who are more capable and can create more value for the company.

Once you lose your ability to work or are unable to meet the needs of the company, the only fate that awaits you is to be eliminated.

Take the now-busy Tokyo workplace as an example. The competition here has reached an intense level.

Every day, countless young people with dreams flock to this city. They bring with them full of enthusiasm and unlimited energy, eager to realize their life value here.

However, the reality is cruel. There are limited jobs in the workplace, but job seekers are overwhelming.

In order to get a job, people have to lower their requirements and even give up their dignity.

Once you are fired, it is almost impossible to find another job.

Companies have increasingly higher requirements for job seekers, requiring not only rich work experience, but also outstanding professional skills and good communication skills.

For those who are older and in poor health, it is difficult for them to meet these requirements.

Even if they have rich life experience and valuable work experience, they will be ruthlessly turned away due to the dual disadvantages of age and health.

This kind of brutal competition is most evident in the trading companies of the island nation.

The organizational structure of a trading company is roughly divided from low to high into ordinary members, department head (uncommon), section chief, vice chief (deputy to the chief), chief, head of the headquarters, and president. Above these is a chairman, who is similar to the "chairman" of the board of directors and is usually an honorary position after the "former president" retires to the second line.

For those low-level managers, such as department heads and section heads, although they hold certain positions, they are actually just more senior cattle and horses.

They have to deal with a lot of work every day and are under tremendous work pressure.

In order to gain recognition from their superiors and have a chance of promotion, they have to work very hard, and working overtime has become commonplace.

However, even so, their path to promotion is still full of ups and downs and uncertainties.

Because in this highly competitive environment, you may be replaced by others if you are not careful.

Losing a job means losing one's life, which is no exaggeration in today's island nation.

In island countries, although the social security system is relatively complete, those who have lost their jobs still face tremendous living pressure.

(End of this chapter)