Six guides, four ways into the region
This page brings together six guides: Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Turkey. They have almost nothing in common except a starting question: on what terms can a French-speaking reader over 50 take up an activity there? There are four ways in.
- Japan and South Korea: societies where people work for a long time, with public neighbourhood schemes for seniors, but where the local language governs almost everything.
- Australia and New Zealand: no mandatory retirement age in most jobs, English as the working language, and a single lock, the visa.
- Israel: a dynamic market where the reader's status, new immigrant or visitor, changes everything, and where Hebrew widens the options.
- Turkey: a broad market where the stakes are declared employment, the work permit for a foreigner and the effect on the pension.
Spot the route that best resembles your situation, then open the matching guide.
Residence and the right to work: six different locks
In none of these six countries does drawing a pension give you the right to work. But the lock is not the same.
- Japan: the right depends on the residence status shown on the card; if the activity is not covered, permission for activity outside status can be requested, and you do not start before the answer.
- South Korea: the type of visa or status decides; an employer may know the sponsorship or status-change procedures.
- Australia: only the visa you hold counts; some visitor or retirement visas allow no work at all, and the working-holiday programmes target far younger age bands.
- New Zealand: a visitor visa does not as a rule permit employment, and an employer-linked visa is valid only for the job and place named.
- Israel: a new immigrant can in principle work, a visitor on a tourist visa cannot; foreign workers fall under an authorisation scheme by sector and employer.
- Turkey: the permit application is generally started by the employer with the labour ministry, and some professions are reserved for Turkish citizens.
Do not leave on a tourist visa counting on finding something once there: it is the mistake the Australia and New Zealand guides flag first.
Language: from fluent English to polite Japanese
Australia and New Zealand play out in English, with a concise CV, no photo or family status, centred on the last fifteen years. In Japan, command of Japanese weighs more than international experience: reading safety instructions, talking with colleagues, care with the polite register, a CV in the Japanese format. In South Korea, Korean is essential for most local posts, and a test such as the TOPIK lets you assess your level honestly.
In Israel, Hebrew clearly widens options in administration, teaching and neighbourhood services; without it you turn to consulting, training or customer service in English or French, with an ulpan Hebrew course alongside. In Turkey, Turkish is essential for customer-facing, workshop or shop posts, while tourism values English, German, Russian or French.
Where French helps
It is an occasional asset in language teaching, hotels, francophone clientele and export companies. It never replaces the local language for a lasting post.
Pension and earned income: five distinct mechanisms
The guides give no amounts, but they identify the checkpoints.
- Japan: pay can reduce or partly suspend the employees' pension if the total exceeds a threshold; the basic pension is not affected in the same way.
- South Korea: the mandatory retirement age at many employers is around 60, while the public pension is paid only later; high earnings can reduce the payment.
- Australia: the Age Pension and superannuation mainly concern residents; Services Australia confirms the thresholds.
- New Zealand: the public pension is aimed at residents with the required length of residence, and employment income is in principle taxable.
- Israel: the National Insurance Institute can reduce the pension if income exceeds a threshold between retirement age and a higher age.
- Turkey: combining depends on the date of first affiliation, on status and on sector; the pension may be kept or suspended.
For a European pension, the paying fund always says whether foreign income must be declared, and the tax treaty between the two countries settles the rest.
Support structures and status: what exists locally
Each country has its own structures, with no equivalent elsewhere.
Japan and South Korea
Japan distinguishes the regular post, rehiring by the employer after the company's retirement age, and the one-off assignment. Silver centres hand neighbourhood tasks to members aged around 60 and over, and the public Hello Work network guides jobseekers, almost entirely in Japanese. In South Korea, the Work24 portal and a national portal dedicated to seniors coexist with neighbourhood jobs backed by local authorities and transition posts in security, building management or delivery. The Seoul50Plus foundation supports people over 50 in the capital.
Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Turkey
In Australia, the contract may be full-time, part-time or casual, with no guaranteed hours but a higher hourly rate; a self-employed person needs a business number. In New Zealand, seasonal horticulture assignments dominate outside the big cities. In Israel, the Sabbath and holidays shape the week. In Turkey, a written contract declared to social security is the condition of serious work.
Six fictional examples and what they reveal
Each guide offers an invented journey. Side by side, they show where the first obstacle lies.
- A former quality manager in Japan prepares a CV in Japanese and visits Hello Work and his municipal Silver centre.
- A former electronics engineer in Seoul passes on her knowledge part-time, in Korean and English.
- A former department manager aged 58 aims for Perth, but finds his initial visa does not allow work and changes plan.
- A former irrigation technician aged 63 aims for the Tauranga region and first insists on a specific written offer.
- A former accountant aged 61 near Netanya relies on transferable skills with a francophone clientele rather than on local accounting.
- A former garment workshop head aged 59 targets Izmir and insists on a written contract.
For Australia, New Zealand and Turkey the first step is to confirm permission to work; for Japan and South Korea it is the language level; for Israel it is recognition of the trade and the choice of a transferable skill.
Climate, rhythm and health
The Japanese rhythm can be demanding: crowded trains, overtime in some sectors, summer heat and humidity. In Australia, summer heat and distances weigh on outdoor trades, and public health cover depends on residence status. In New Zealand, strong sun, rain, rough ground and the lack of transport outside the cities all count, as does the cost of housing.
In Israel, summer heat and shifted hours in catering deserve thought, and particular safety instructions may apply in certain areas. In Turkey, workshops, building sites and farms impose long summer hours, and inflation can change the cost of living faster than in some neighbouring countries.
A medical opinion beforehand is useful for any physical post. Also check what your home insurance covers: access to the public system almost everywhere depends on residence status.
Deciding, and planning a fallback
Order your questions like this: can I legally work here with my status? Which language does the post require? What effect will the income have on my pension? What housing and commute can the pay cover?
- If your working language is English, look first at Australia and New Zealand, then check the visa before any application.
- If you already live in Japan or South Korea, begin with the public structures and an honest language level.
- If you are a new immigrant to Israel or of Turkish origin, first check your exact status with the authorities.
If paid work is out of reach, the guides mention remote work for an employer in your home country, supervised volunteering or remote knowledge transfer, each with its own status and tax rules. A scouting trip shorter than a move lets you test a region. Before signing, a written question to your pension fund and to the authority of the country you have in mind beats any summary.