A 70-year-old woman in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward hops from workplace to workplace almost daily using an app that has helped thousands of retirees survive financially and socially.

She registered with a spot work app called Timee about a year and half ago.

The app connects operators of restaurants and other businesses with those willing to do shift work.

Under this model, employers sign job contracts with the workers, and Timee receives 30 percent of the sum paid to workers as usage fees.

The woman has taken 480 shifts via the app, far more than anyone else her age, and puts in a daily average of four hours, according to Timee.

She typically washes dishes or cleans up at a restaurant and stocks and packs vegetables at a supermarket.

“I am glad I can work,” she said. “I want to work for 10 more years.”

Timee, operated by a Tokyo company, said 51,000 people 65 or older had signed up for the spot work app by March.

The woman turned to Timee after failing to find work through magazines and job placement centers dedicated to older adults.

Even if she secured a job interview, she was not offered a job. She suspects she was rejected because of her age.

She lives alone with a cat, and switching jobs has long been a part of her life since she was young.

“I cannot survive on social security benefits alone,” she said, adding that she needs money to play table tennis and grow succulents.

She earns around 100,000 yen ($680) monthly through spot work and intends to sign up for more apps to seek better offers.

The woman said she chooses shifts depending on her health condition and her schedule of that day. Each time she applies, she works for a new employer and workplace.

She prefers working with her hands and said she finds spot work stress-free.

But after she puts in six to seven hours on rare occasions, she returns home “exhausted.”

Apart from the need for income, she finds benefits in working outside. She does not want to feel marginalized by society and believes that being active keeps her healthy.

STAYING CONNECTED

Other seniors have turned to spot work apps to seek a sense of participation in society after retirement.

A former physical education teacher in his 60s said he began using a spot work app to stay in touch with society. After he retired, he found he had fewer opportunities to converse with others.

He delivers fast food because he likes riding a motorbike.

Demand for spot work is growing.

The number of seniors who registered with the app grew 2.1 times over the year through March, according to Timee.

In a survey allowing multiple answers, older subscribers were asked why they signed up. Sixty-five percent said “to maintain health,” 59 percent chose “to supplement living costs,” and 59 percent picked “to make the best use of spare time.”

Thirty-three percent said “to interact with others” and 27 percent wanted “to participate in society.”

Ayaka Kato, a Timee spokeswoman, said one factor behind the growing popularity of the app is the strong desire among older people to stay in touch with society and remain healthy.

“The ability of people should not be judged by just how old they are,” she said. “Employers should update their notion of seniors.”

WORKERS IN DEMAND

Persistent labor shortages around Japan could force employers to rely more on senior workers.

Recruit Works Institute projects that Japan will have a shortfall of 11 million workers in 2040.

According to a survey by Yano Research Institute, a market research company, the market value for spot work services connecting employers to workers was estimated at 82.4 billion yen in fiscal 2023, up by 27.2 percent from the previous year.

More players are entering the fray to cash in.

Mercari Inc., an operator of major flea market app Mercari, began offering a spot work service in March.

Recruit Co., a leading staffing agency, plans to release an app dedicated to spot work this fall.

But some experts voiced concerns that the spread of spot work among seniors could lead to more people toiling under unstable work conditions.

Hideo Kinoshita, a professor emeritus of social security law at Osaka City University, said the welfare ministry’s standard social security payment for a married couple is 230,000 yen.

However, the amount, he said, is based on the assumption that the husband worked for 40 years as a regular company employee, while the wife has been a homemaker all those years.

Kinoshita said attention must be paid to the presence of older contracted workers who have worked without receiving full benefits of regular employees despite this model.

“There are seniors who have no choice but to take spot work to make ends meet,” he said. “We should be aware of the reality that they have to work into their old age.”