Designing a second life: An action research project implementing an employment platform in Japan

In Japan, with rising longevity actively “designing a second life” is vital including the potential to work, which is key for those retiring from employment and women after child-rearing. This brings vitality to local communities, given demographic trends and the health and well-being benefits of appropriate employment. Yet, existing local labour market mechanisms do not serve well many such individuals. This paper provides insights into an ongoing action-research programme to achieve social impact by developing a platform to support people’s second life related to employment. The initial focus is on a city in which to develop a prototype. The approach involves forming a consortium of local stakeholders, and then pursuing initiatives to develop the platform’s two sides: bringing potential employers onboard and attracting people in their second life. In the next phase, the aim is to develop a model to support other cities’ learning and adaptation. The initial priority in the focal city is to have a durable local impact by ‘going slow’ to establish the platform with local stakeholders, to then ‘go fast’ in increasing impact through matching: in practice, however, once established, accelerating impact locally is challenging. Nonetheless, the focal city provides a base for transfer of learning to other cities so as to increase impact on people’s second life and thereby contributing to achieving a sustainable society.