WHEN European companies retired older workers early to survive an economic downturn in the 1980s, it changed societal attitudes that made it harder later to get older people back to work.
'Employers got used to the idea that people over 50 weren't needed in the workforce,' said British gerontology professor Sarah Harper.
'And people got used to the idea that you stopped working in your 50s and lived to 90, and someone was going to look after you.'
This episode was highlighted by Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Boon Heng yesterday when he warned employers against using age in the event of cutting back staff.
Mr Lim, who is the minister in charge of ageing issues, said: 'Learning from past experience, it would be a huge policy error if we try to solve the unemployment problem, caused by the downturn, through early retirement.
'Employers should not use age as a factor should they need to reduce headcount to save on wage costs.'
Mr Lim was speaking at the close of a two-day Reinventing Retirement Asia conference.
Prof Harper, the director of the Oxford Institute of Ageing at the University of Oxford, told The Straits Times after Mr Lim's address that only between 2003 and 2006 did the European governments enact anti-discrimination laws that stop employers from forcing older workers out before the retirement age of 65.
Mr Lim, however, told reporters later that the solution for Singapore does not lie in the 'magic bullet of legislation'. It lies in understanding what makes a company retain one employee over another.
He reckoned that older workers could be laid off if they lacked the skills to be productive, rather than because of their age.
Earlier, in his speech before a global audience of 370 policymakers and workforce experts, Mr Lim said the correct policy in this downturn was to enable people to work for as long as they could by giving them access to training and retraining.
He also dwelt at length on the need to strengthen the financial security of seniors.
Apart from equipping all Singaporeans with financial literacy and budgeting skills, policies also need to be designed to encourage people to prepare financially for their future and behave in a way that is 'individually and socially responsible'.
'As human beings, we tend to discount the future and veer towards irrational exuberance, or irrational pessimism. Planning, preparing and taking responsibility should be part of our social DNA.'
Mr Lim suggested that more thought be given to the value of annuities 'as a hedge against longevity'.
Annuities guarantee a constant income for life, but have not been very popular because they yield lower returns than equities.
Mr Lim noted that the Central Provident Fund Life compulsory annuity scheme provides only basic coverage.
Calling for its enhancement for people with higher aspirations on how they want to spend their golden years, he urged insurance companies to offer add-ons or riders to supplement the cover provided.
He also outlined Singapore's efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle as a way to reduce medical costs in old age, taking a leaf from similar workplace programmes in Japan and Finland.
'You have to start younger. It's a habit you have to inculcate at an early age,' he said.
The conference left an impression on younger delegates like labour consultant Ong Sin Tiong, 38, on the need to prepare now for one's future.
'It makes me even more sensitive that I will be living longer and that I have to do some planning.'
For a start, he would take up a suggestion by a conference speaker to keep fit, by walking 10,000 steps a day.
- The Straits Times
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