The Chosun Ilbo

Israel

February 16, 2007
 

Bermad is a manufacturer of water valves and other fluid control systems located near the Lebanon border in Israel. It's a rather unusual company. As part of a strategy to get the most out of its people, North Korea once devised a slogan that said, "You're still young if you're in your 60s. These days you're not old until you reach your 90s!" Perhaps somebody at Bermad saw that banner somewhere, because Bermad actually employs several workers in their 80s and 90s. And Bermad is no little mom-and-pop operation. On the contrary, it has annual sales of hundreds of billions of won and it exports 90 percent of its products to countries around the world.

At a Bermad workshop, Eric Sheba, 94, his white hair combed back, quietly assembles valve fittings side by side with his 88-year-old wife, Beitna. After work, their children or grandchildren come to take them home. This reporter still remembers seeing the elderly couple squeezing each other's hands as they worked.

At the main production line, Meil Ellat, 83, supervises younger employees. "I'm so thankful that I can still work! All work is sacred, isn't it?" he said.

Because of their reduced physical strength, the senior employees work just six hours a day for four days a week. It's not for lack of manpower that the company hires older workers. "We're trying to put to use the experience and wisdom that the younger generation lacks," said manager Ilana Hughes. "We have the older workers side by side with younger ones on some production lines."

While Bermad might be an extreme case, in light of the rapidly aging state of our society, the example is a relevant one.

South Korea has already become what demographers term an aging society, in which people 65 years or older account for more than 7 percent of the population. That figure is expected to rise to 35.7 percent by 2050. The problem we must face is our society's views on aging and employment. In the past, retirement was seen as almost a second childhood, as senior citizens spent their hours in leisure, often at warm, sunny resorts.

But now experts are stressing that as our society grows older, we need to develop more forward-looking ideas. The Korea Development Institute (KDI) and the Samsung Economic Research Institute have begun emphasizing the labor and productivity potential of seniors. They stress the need to allow the elderly to maintain their vitality and "farm a second crop" in their later life. Of course older workers shouldn't expect the same remuneration they received while in their prime.

Paul Wallice, a demographer, has compared the shock that aging societies will have on the world economy to an earthquake. According to Wallice, by 2020 when the majority of the world's baby boomers are due to retire, the world economy will be shaken to its core by an "age-quake" measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale. Many nations are working to prevent this. Last year Japan passed the Retirement Extension Act, which extends the retirement age from 60 to 65. Under the new system, more than 90 percent of employees are reemployed by their companies after they retire. And while those older workers are given meaningful jobs, companies benefit from their knowledge and experience at reduced wages. In Germany, the administration of Chancellor Angela Merkel is also extending the retirement age from 65 to 67.

But it's no exaggeration to say that South Korea has almost no systems or measures in place to employ our elderly citizens, at neither the individual, corporate, nor state level.

Many skilled Korean technicians in their late 50s who have worked at construction sites in the Middle East come home to find their services unwanted because of their advanced age. They often head back overseas to find work. Some time ago, the Ministry of Construction & Transportation and the International Contractors Association of Korea took in resumes from retirees with overseas experience to find them opportunities abroad. It turned out that 70 percent of about 800 applicants were in their 50s and 60s. Some businesses give only perfunctory positions to retirees, as advisers or consultants. This is a waste.

Hwang In-soo, 68, retired from his position as principal of Busan High School five years ago. He now lives in the Philippines where he enjoys his "second life" as the headmaster of a Korean school. We'll likely be seeing many more cases like Hwang's in the future, and rightly so.

This column was contributed by Choi Hong-sub from the Chosun Ilbo’s Business News Division.
 

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