In the face of rapid population ageing and the trend towards early retirement, there is a need

to promote better employment opportunities for older people. Much has been said about

the need for reform of old-age pensions and early retirement schemes but this may not be

sufficient to raise employment rates for older people significantly or to reduce the future risk

of labour shortages. Both governments and firms will need to take active measures to adapt

wage-setting practices to ageing workforces, to address the extent to which other welfare

schemes act as pathways to early retirement, to tackle age discrimination and to improve

the job skills and working conditions of older workers. In addition, older workers will need to

change their own attitudes towards working longer and acquiring new skills. Little is known

about what countries have been doing or should be doing in these areas.

This report on Korea is part of a series of around 20 OECD country reports that are intended

to fill this gap. Each report contains a survey of the main barriers to employment for older

workers, an assessment of the adequacy and effectiveness of existing measures to overcome

these barriers and a set of policy recommendations for further action by the public authorities

and social partners.