Issue Productivity, participation and tailored migration as a combined response

Summary

Sustaining labor supply while securing fiscal soundness is presented as the central policy challenge in rapidly ageing societies. The McKinsey report proposes three levers, namely raising productivity, lifting labor participation and expanding immigration. Productivity is the most fundamental way to offset a shrinking workforce, but the report judges it insufficient on its own and urges combining it with other measures. Raising participation cannot rely on adjusting the retirement age alone, and expanding child and elder care is seen as more effective for enabling women and older people to work. On immigration, tailored programs matched to demand matter more than sheer volume, together with systematic support for settlement and economic integration. First-wave countries including Korea are said to need a balanced mix of all three.