A government survey shows that 27.9 percent of Japanese companies allow their employees to stay on the job until age 70. The figure is up 2.3 percentage points from a year earlier.

A law that took effect in April 2021 requires companies to do what they can to keep their employees on the payroll until age 70 if they wish to continue working, as Japan's population is rapidly aging.

The labor ministry poll asked more than 230,000 companies with 21 or more workers about the situation concerning older employees as of June last year.

It found that 20.4 percent of large firms had introduced systems enabling staff to continue working until 70, while 28.5 percent of smaller companies had done so.

Among them, 78.1 percent had systems in place to allow workers to stay on past their designated retirement ages.

While 14 percent abolished retirement ages altogether, 7.5 percent raised their working-age limits, and 0.1 percent had systems for outsourcing contracts and social contribution projects.

The ministry says the survey results show more companies are working to secure employment opportunities for people up to the age of 70.

The ministry added that it will continue to provide support to firms so they can smoothly adapt their wage and personnel systems with the consent of labor unions.