accordance with the Supreme Court standard, the extension of the retirement age can be seen as a target measure in response to wage cuts, so its effectiveness can be recognized more widely than the maintenance of the retirement age. According to precedents on the wage peak system for extending the retirement age, if the wage peak system was introduced through labor-management discussion as a measure to accompany the extension of the retirement age based on Article 19-2 of the Elderly Employment Act, it is generally considered not to be age discrimination. However, if the wages of workers of a certain age are excessively reduced for reasons of cost reduction or employee dismissal, it may be considered age discrimination.564) C) Discussion on the Wage System Reform in Preparation for a Super-Aged Society and Issues of Age Discrimination The wage peak system was introduced with the intention of relieving the employment insecurity of the elderly and creating jobs for the young people, but questions are constantly raised about its actual effectiveness. According to a study by the Korea Labor Institute, companies with a wage peak system had a 2.6%p lower employment rate for those aged 50 or older than those without the wage peak system, and the employment share fell further by 6.0%p after implementing the extension of the retirement age.565) According to a survey by the Statistics Korea, the average length of employment decreased from 20 years in 2011 to 15 years in 2021. Some studies have shown that the wage peak system has no significant effect on new hires.566) With this ruling, the need to introduce performance-based wages instead of seniority-based wages was raised, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor also announced that it would push for a reform and expansion of the job and performance-based wage system. While the seniority-based wage system is suitable for inducing long-term service during a high-growth period, it is not sustainable during a low-growth period and in a labor market with frequent 564) Seoul High Court, Decided on Sep. 8, 2021, 2019Na2016657 565) Lee, Byeong-hui, The need for continuous employment promotion for middle-aged and elderly people and support measures, Korea Labor Research Institute, Aug. 2021. 566) Kim, Seung-tae, et al., Analysis of employment effects following the introduction of the wage peak system, Economy Research, Vol. 39, No. 4, Korea Economic and Business Association, Nov. 2021. 228