"Overseas Travel Is Out, Let's Earn Daily Wages with Short-Term Jobs"... Rising Living Costs Drive Japanese Seniors to Part-Time Work [Sunday Japan Culture]

If you can just hold on a little longer, the May Golden Week holiday is approaching. In Japan as well, this is the time for "Golden Week," a holiday period that lasts over a week. Many people travel abroad during this time. However, in Japan, it seems that quite a few people are hesitant this year due to rising fuel surcharges and the overall increase in prices.

On the contrary, there are people who see this period as an opportunity to earn extra money by working short-term jobs. Niche part-time jobs, known as "Skima Baito" (スキマバイト), which pay daily wages for just a few hours of work, are gaining attention.

In fact, a recent survey showed that more than half of respondents plan to do Skima Baito during this holiday. What kind of work draws so many people? This week, we take a closer look at this trend.

Sharepool, a Japanese niche part-time job application, announced the results of a Golden Week-related survey of its users on April 21. In total, 57.4% of respondents said they would "work part-time" during Golden Week. This is an increase from last year’s figure of 42.6%. The second most common response was "I will spend my time leisurely," at 37.8%. Not everyone using the app is what you would call a "freeter" (people who only do part-time jobs). The largest employment category among users was temporary dispatch workers, followed by contract workers and students.

The most common reason for working during Golden Week was "to earn more money." The impact of rising prices is believed to be a major factor. The combination of a weaker yen and rising energy prices due to the Middle East situation has increased the cost of living across the board in Japan, including food, dining out, and transportation.

Screen of the Sharepool application, a niche part-time job app. You can find various types of short-term part-time jobs all over Japan. Sharepool.

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So, what kinds of jobs are available as niche part-time work? The majority are ultra-short-term positions, such as "work three to four hours a day for just three days." The job types are diverse. For example, moving companies recruit workers with requirements like "anyone who is physically able can do this," while convenience stores seek help with stocking shelves, logistics centers need sorting staff, and restaurants post openings for serving or dishwashing-mostly simple work. There are also job postings seeking people for specialized fields, such as accounting, secretarial work, or nursing care, for just two to three hours a day. These are literally jobs that make use of your "spare time."

The growth of platforms that connect people to these jobs is also noticeable. Sharepool, which conducted the survey, launched its service in 2019 and now has around 12 million registered users-a rapid increase. With the demand for "earning even a little more" in the face of rising prices intersecting with companies’ need for labor, the niche part-time job market is expanding further.

Niche part-time work has become a new option not only for young people but also for middle-aged and retired individuals. According to another niche job-matching app, Timee, the number of users aged 60 and over reached approximately 308,000 as of April last year-double the figure from the previous year. The oldest user was reportedly 90 years old.

The most popular jobs chosen by this group were "light work" with relatively low physical demands, accounting for 61.3%, followed by hospitality roles in food and beverage (35.9%) and hotel work (16.9%). The ability to work only on preferred days, without being tied to fixed hours, appears to be a major attraction for senior users.

An introduction to niche part-time job postings in the nursing care industry featured on the Japanese niche part-time job app "Timee". Timee.

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In particular, the nursing care industry is actively hiring middle-aged and older workers. There is always a shortage of personnel to care for the growing elderly population. Chosei Jigyo-dan, a nursing facility operator headquartered in Fukuoka, is recruiting short-term workers for meal service, laundry, and cleaning at 240 nursing homes in the Greater Tokyo area. A notable feature is that applicants must be at least 60 years old.

In Japan, where issues like low birth rates and an aging society have become prominent sooner than in Korea, "working in retirement" has become a fairly common phenomenon. The Japanese online media JB Press analyzed that this trend is also related to the gap between pension payments and the cost of living.

This spring, Japan’s wage growth rate exceeded 5% for the third consecutive year. However, the national pension increase rate was only 1.9%, and the welfare pension rose by just 2.0%. These modest increases are due to the need to avoid raising insurance premiums for the current working generation indefinitely. In addition, those aged 75 and older must cover 20% of their health insurance costs themselves, which is another contributing factor. Against the backdrop of the perception that "you can’t live on pension alone," niche part-time jobs that allow seniors to work without significant burden are becoming a practical alternative.

As such, supplementing one’s income by working even short hours has become a way of life in Japan. The shift from a "comfortable, restful retirement" to a "working retirement" is underway. Such a future may not be unfamiliar to us either. Going forward, how often and how long people can work throughout their lives may well determine the quality of life in retirement.

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