English follows Japanese.

June 26, 2025

— シニア人材の再雇用と知識共創の可能性を日本企業の事例から探る —

当研究室の博士後期課程に所属する丸尾克行さんが，2025年6月26日，イギリス・サリー大学で開催された第54回 British Society of Gerontology 年次大会（BSG 2025）にて，研究発表を行いました．

この学会は，老年学分野で最も歴史ある国際学会の一つで，毎年イギリス国内の大学で開催されています．第54回となる今回は，約400名が参加し，そのうち約6割は女性の研究者でした．参加者は主にヨーロッパ諸国からで，アジアからの参加者は少なく，日本からは丸尾さんが唯一の発表者でした．

「英語での学会発表は初めてだったので緊張しましたが，質疑応答を通して参加者と丁寧に議論でき，非常に有意義な経験になりました」と，丸尾さんは語っています．アジアからの参加者が少ないなーと私に報告してくれたのですが「だってBritish societyじゃん，そりゃそうだよ」と大笑い．他流試合？知的な道場破り？をしてきたところです．

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発表内容：再雇用されたシニアは“知の共創者”たりうるか？

丸尾さんが発表した研究タイトルは，Effective Re-employment of the Senior Workers: Case of Japanese Firms Focused on Knowledge Behaviourです．

日本では少子高齢化が急速に進行し，働き手の減少に伴い，シニア人材の再雇用制度の重要性が増しています．しかし，多くの制度が高齢労働者の多様な意欲や価値観を十分に捉えられておらず，結果として職場における知識の共有や創出の機会が損なわれるという問題があります．

この研究では，日本政府によって「高齢者雇用の先進企業」と認定された15社に着目し，人事部門の責任者16名への半構造化インタビューを実施．調査データはGioia Methodを用いて整理・分析しました．

その結果，次のような傾向が明らかになりました：

* 年齢による差別を排した価値観の尊重に基づく組織文化が共通して存在している

* 再雇用者に対し，金銭報酬だけでなく，感謝の言葉や社会的な役割機会といった非金銭的報酬を重視している

* シニア人材を地域貢献活動の担い手として位置づけることで，社内外への知識の橋渡しが行われている

このような取り組みは，単なる戦力維持ではなく，企業の競争力強化に資する「知の共創」の実現に向けた基盤であると示唆されました．

質疑応答と現地での反応

発表は「Work & Retirement」のセッションで行われ，15分のプレゼンテーションと5分間の質疑応答が設定されました．会場からは，以下のような質問が寄せられました．

Q1.「日本では再雇用後，子会社や関連会社に異動することが多いのでは？」

→ 丸尾さんは，「確かに大企業ではそうしたケースがありますが，日本企業の大半は中小企業であり，とくに地方では異動先も限られるのが現実です．高齢者の就業選択肢の乏しさは深刻です」と説明しました．

Q2.「製造業とサービス業では再雇用のモデルが異なるのではないか？」

→ 「AIやロボットの導入が進む製造業と，人を介した対応が重視されるサービス業では再雇用の設計も異なる可能性があります．今後は業種別の分析も進めていきたい」と今後の展望を述べました．

また，会場で最も盛り上がったのは，日英仏における高齢者の就労率の比較でした．

> 「日本では65歳以上でも約半数が働いていますが，イギリスでは“そこそこ”，フランスでは60歳を超えると就労率が40％ほどに落ち込み，65歳以上ではほとんど働きません♪」と紹介したところ，会場から笑いが起き，文化的な違いが和やかな雰囲気で共有されました．

今後に向けて

国際学会での発表を通じて，丸尾さんは「再雇用制度の設計だけでなく，シニアを知の共創者として迎え入れる組織文化の醸成が鍵である」と実感したと語っています．

「これからは産業や地域の違いにも着目しながら，より実務的な提案ができる研究に取り組んでいきたいです」と，今後の抱負も語ってくれました．

当研究室では，こうした実証研究を通じて，持続可能な働き方や価値共創のあり方を提案してまいります．今後の丸尾さんの研究活動にも，ぜひご期待ください．

ENG

— Exploring the Potential of Re-employing Senior Talent and Knowledge Co-creation Through Japanese Corporate Examples — Katsuyuki Maruo, a doctoral student in our laboratory, presented his research at the 54th Annual Conference of the British Society of Gerontology (BSG 2025) held on June 26, 2025, at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom.

This conference is one of the most historic international conferences in the field of gerontology and is held annually at universities in the UK. The 54th conference was attended by approximately 400 participants, about 60% of whom were female researchers. Most participants were from European countries, with few from Asia, and Mr. Maruo was the only presenter from Japan. “This was my first time presenting at an international conference in English, so I was nervous, but through the question-and-answer session, I was able to engage in thoughtful discussions with the participants, making it a very meaningful experience,” Maruo shared.

He also mentioned to me that there were few participants from Asia, to which I jokingly replied, “Well, it's the British Society, so that makes sense!” It was a intellectually challenging experience.

Presentation content: Can re-employed seniors be “co-creators of knowledge”? The title of Maruo's presentation was “Effective Re-employment of Senior Workers: Case of Japanese Firms Focused on Knowledge Behavior.” In Japan, the aging population and declining birthrate are progressing rapidly, and with the resulting decline in the workforce, the importance of re-employment systems for senior workers is increasing.

However, many of these systems fail to adequately capture the diverse motivations and values of older workers, resulting in a loss of opportunities for knowledge sharing and creation in the workplace. This study focused on 15 companies recognized by the Japanese government as “leading companies in elderly employment” and conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 human resources department managers. The survey data was organized and analyzed using the Gioia Method.

The following trends were identified:

* A organizational culture based on respect for values that eliminates age discrimination is common among these companies.

* In addition to monetary compensation, these companies place importance on non-monetary rewards such as words of appreciation and opportunities for social roles for rehired employees.

* Senior employees are positioned as contributors to community activities, facilitating the transfer of knowledge both within and outside the company. These initiatives suggest that they serve as a foundation for realizing “knowledge co-creation” that contributes to strengthening the competitiveness of companies, rather than simply maintaining their workforce.

The Q&A session and presentation of local reactions were held in the “Work & Retirement” session, with a 15-minute presentation and a 5-minute Q&A session. The following questions were raised from the audience. Q1. “In Japan, isn't it common for rehired employees to be transferred to subsidiaries or affiliated companies?”→ Mr. Maruo explained, “While such cases do exist in large corporations, most Japanese companies are small and medium-sized enterprises, and especially in regional areas, transfer options are limited. The lack of employment options for older workers is a serious issue.” Q2. “Are reemployment models different between manufacturing and service industries?” → "Given the differing roles of AI and robotics in manufacturing versus the emphasis on human interaction in service industries, reemployment designs may vary.

We aim to conduct further analysis by industry in the future.“ Additionally, the most lively discussion at the venue was the comparison of employment rates for the elderly in Japan, the UK, and France. > ”In Japan, approximately half of those aged 65 and older are still working, but in the UK, it's ‘fairly decent,’ and in France, the employment rate drops to around 40% after age 60, with almost no one working after 65." This remark elicited laughter from the audience, fostering a relaxed atmosphere as cultural differences were shared.

Looking ahead, through presentations at international conferences, Maruo emphasized that “the key lies not only in designing re-employment systems but also in fostering an organizational culture that welcomes seniors as co-creators of knowledge.” She also shared her aspirations for the future, stating, “Going forward, I aim to conduct research that offers more practical proposals by focusing on differences across industries and regions.” Our laboratory will continue to propose sustainable ways of working and value co-creation through such empirical research.

We look forward to your continued interest in Maruo's future research activities.

研究成果/Research results