CONTINUED employment of older workers is a win-win outcome as it means productive deployment of limited manpower resources in Singapore, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Monday.
Explaining why the Government is pressing on with legislative changes to introduce re-employment of older workers by 2012, Mr Gan told a seminar on Monday morning: 'If we can help more older workers stay in the workforce, it will enable them to remain active, earn a regular income, contribute to society, and better prepare for a more comfortable retirement. This will also benefit the companies as they can continue to tap on the experience and expertise of older workers as a valuable resource.'
Mr Gan said by 2020, more than one in three Singapore residents will be 50 years older. At the same time, life expectancy continues to improve: Someone retiring at 62 today can expect to live for another 20 years or more.
Preliminary results from a Ministry of Manpower's comprehensive mid-year labour force survey shows that the employment rate for older residents aged 55 to 64 in Singapore is 57.2 per cent. This is unchanged from 2008, despite the severe recession which saw the overall employment rate for those aged 25 to 64 fall from 77 per cent in 2008 to 75.8 per cent this year.
Mr Gan said initial response and feedback from employers and unions to the tripartite advisory on the reemployment of older workers in April last year has been positive.
An MOM survey done last year showed that more than nine in 10 companies, or 94 per cent, which do not specify a retirement age allow their employees to continue working past the statutory retirement age, while nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) of companies which do stipulate a retirement age offer reemployment or allow employees to continue working beyond the statutory retirement age of 62.
- The Straits Times
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