A well-functioning labour market is essential to sustain rapid economic growth in the face of
population ageing. Priorities are to reverse the rising share of non-regular workers, which has negative
implications for both growth and equity, and encourage greater employment of women and youth, who are
under-represented in the labour force. Attracting more women to employment requires increasing the
availability of childcare, strengthening maternity leave and creating more family-friendly workplaces.
Youth employment rates should be boosted by upgrading tertiary education through stronger competition
and closer links to enterprises to reduce mismatches. Educational reform should be extended to elementary
and secondary schools to enhance efficiency and decrease the burden of private tutoring. The age of
retirement of employees should be raised by eliminating mandatory retirement and phasing out the
retirement allowance. Active labour market policies should focus on policies to expand human capital
rather than wage subsidies.
