[SeniorBiz Insight] From Dependents to Key Players in Value Creation

Professor Kim Jeong-geun, Department of Silver Industry, Gangnam University

Due to population aging, the part we worry about the most is not the increasing number of elderly people itself, but the growing elderly population that needs support. With low birth rates causing the working-age population (ages 15-64) to rapidly decline, if the number of elderly people requiring care continues to rise, it could become a significant social and economic burden. However, reality is somewhat different from our assumptions. Among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, South Korea’s elderly are the most economically active. As of 2022, the economic participation rate of South Koreans aged 65 and older was 37.3%, about three times higher than the OECD average of 13.4%, and significantly higher than other advanced countries such as Japan at 32.6% and France at 4%. When meeting elderly South Koreans aged 65 and above, they do not see themselves as weak beings who need help. Depending on their circumstances, they actively participate in economic activities to reduce social burdens. Even when physically challenged, many elderly people in South Korea dislike being a burden to society and engage in activities like collecting waste paper.

Especially as the baby boomer generation, who have higher education levels and better health than previous generations, joined the elderly population starting in 2020, our society is now experiencing not only a quantitative increase in the elderly population but also a qualitative increase in elderly people equipped with experience and knowledge. Therefore, we should now focus not only on increasing the economic participation rate but also on the quality of jobs for the elderly by expanding good job opportunities. Just as “new wine must be put into new wineskins,” the systems and ideas created during the era when the average life expectancy was in the 60s or 70s cannot foster senior businesses suitable for a super-aged society. In a super-aged society where the elderly make up 20% of the total population, there is a need for a shift in perception and strategy in senior business?from viewing the elderly as dependents to seeing them as producers and contributors. Today, we introduce cases of senior businesses that utilize the elderly not just as welfare recipients who need help and support, but as producers who can create new value.

The first example is ‘Irodori (いろどり),’ a Japanese community business model that utilizes the abilities of the elderly. Kamikatsu Town (上勝町) in Tokushima Prefecture (島?), a mountainous village where 86% of the land is mountainous and 52% of the population is aged 65 or older, began to change with the establishment of a company called ‘Irodori’ in 1999, which supplies beautiful leaves used in Japanese sushi. The elderly residents who had lived there all their lives were experts on the types and locations of various local trees and the seasonal changes of leaves. Japanese restaurants needed seasonal leaves for food decoration, and the elderly in this area were ready to meet this demand. ‘Irodori’ built the ‘Kamikatsu Information Network,’ which elderly people could easily use, and elderly residents who had lived in the area for a long time collected leaves suitable for demand and began selling them to restaurants nationwide. Elderly people who had received basic IT training used tablet PCs to collect various leaves needed for Japanese food decoration. Since the establishment of ‘Irodori,’ the village, which had been worried about depopulation and aging, began to change. The income of elderly residents started to increase, and young people interested in learning related businesses began to gather. This senior business idea, which connected the talents and experiences of the elderly with social needs, saved a disappearing village.

The second example is ‘Generation’ in Singapore, an independent nonprofit program operated by the global consulting firm McKinsey. Originally a program to improve the economic mobility of disadvantaged groups in 16 countries worldwide, Generation Singapore partnered with Microsoft to select 40% of its trainees as middle-aged and older adults. Since 2018, ‘Generation Singapore’ has operated a ‘Junior Data Engineer Course’ that enables middle-aged adults to use their meticulous nature and work experience to perform IT-related tasks such as data collection, information processing, and error correction. Through this program, 50% of middle-aged participants have been able to newly find employment in technical fields recently demanded by companies.

The third example is South Korea’s ‘Ever Young Korea,’ which has been providing technical education and related jobs for the third act of life for the elderly since 2013. Ever Young Korea is a representative company that generates profit by utilizing the potential of people aged 55 and older. Leveraging the meticulous and calm characteristics of the elderly, the company started businesses focused on monitoring digital content, blurring personal information exposed on Naver Maps, and filtering inappropriate posts on cafes and blogs. While young people showed little interest in these simple related tasks and left easily, the elderly participated responsibly and diligently, allowing Ever Young Korea to expand its business utilizing the value of the elderly. Recently, in partnership with Naver Cloud, elderly people have been involved as personnel monitoring and supporting the ‘AI Care Call Service,’ which ensures the safety of single middle-aged and older households.

The year 2025, the Year of the Blue Snake, has begun. In 2025, South Korea’s elderly population will exceed 10 million and enter a super-aged society where the elderly account for more than 20% of the total population. It is also a time when we must creatively solve demographic changes with the wisdom of the snake. It is more necessary than ever to develop senior business strategies that maximize the experience, knowledge, and potential of the growing elderly population, utilizing them as valuable resources for society rather than burdens. This is why “new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

Junggeun Kim, Professor, Department of Silver Industry, Kangnam University