Due to the rapidly developing economy, older workers are quickly phrased out due to intense competition from younger and more active workers and even worse, by technology advancement. Hence, I will now examine some of the issues that are present and what are some of the possible measures to curb such a happening.
Background
Older workers are unemployed because there are certain discrimination against them. There is a stigma among older workers that they are less productive, more expensive to hire, and the embody a rigid mindset. Hence, employers would definitely prefer to employ younger workers, who are fresh, full of stamina and generally, cheaper to employ. This means that employers can help to increase the profit margin of their company.
Therefore, we can see that older workers are vulnerable to retrenchment and they generally have longer unemployment spells. Studies have shown that the participation of older workers in Singapore's workforce is lagging behind that of other developed countries for example united states and Japan. Older workers are being phrased out of the workforce and this results in the government's inability to make use of them.
Why hire older workers?
Studies have shown that older workers are better at tertiary services and they can also maintain high level of performance in jobs like technical and professional work, well into their 60s. This means that older workers can actually contribute to Singapore's economy for a prolonged period of time despite their age. Hence, age should not be a factor taken into consideration as it will only hinder the process of Singapore's development.
Furthermore, we can see that Singapore has an aging population and she will continue to age. Therefore, if we exclude the older workers, we will only see that there is an increased burden on the backs of the economically active working population. So, by including the older workers, we can help alleviate the economic burden the current working population, comprising of young men and women.
Even though the older generation of older workers are generally less educated and they take up lower-skilled jobs, owing to the fact that there were not many educational opportunities in the past, however, this stigma should not persist for long. This is because there are more educational facilities nowadays, allowing workers to have a continuous education while in the workforce. Hence, the new generation of workers would have an increasingly better portfolio as they age. The trend for the future generation would be that their wages would increase as they age. This means that the future cohort of older workers are going to be more valuable than before. Hence, we should start changing our mindsets that older workers are unproductive, if not, it would only hinder our workforce in the future, where we neglect a very valuable part of our human resource.
Singapore is also continuously moving towards a knowledge-based economy, hence, all the more we should hire older workers, because they contain a wealth of knowledge. And with some re-training to renew their soft skills, the older workers are surely going to be more advance at their occupation than fresh college graduates.
Last but not least, hiring older workers is not only beneficial to the economy, but it also benefits both employers and older workers. Studies have shown that older workers are generally more trustworthy, conscientious and dependable. Hence, with such down-to-earth employees, employers are sure to be able to ensure that the company can succeed. Older workers, by the virtue of continuing their work can also contribute to their own psychological well-being. Working gives people a sense of satisfaction, especially for older workers, where they have led a long life and they can truly understand the joy of work.
(picture from http://www.businessstudiesonline.co.uk/GcseBusiness/TheoryNotes/Module%202/PdfNoPrint/03_Motivation.pdf)
Measures to help older workers.
Firstly, one of the measures to help older workers has been mentioned in the previous section and also in the previous page entitled, "Government-initiated policies", that is to re-train older workers. Hence, I shall not deal with that anymore.
Moving on, studies have shown that older workers prefer to work part-time, some due to health reasons. Hence, employers can initiate a more flexible working hours for older workers, where older workers can have a gradual decline of working hours instead of an immediate retrenchment. In this way, older workers would be able to contribute to the economy for a longer period of time and therefore, older workers would not be phrased out so abruptly.
Older workers also prefer to be self-employed. Hence, the government can facilitate this preference by encouraging more older workers, to carry on the spirit of entrepreneurship even in old age, through the use of advertisement or seminars. The government can also help to provide interest-free loans for older workers to start their own business. Hence, this will ensure that older workers are able to contribute to the economy even at old age.
Lastly, there is the pay-cut of older workers. This reduces cost and encourages employers to hire older workers, however, I do not think this is very advisable:
I do not think it is very humane to reduce older workers' salaries so drastically just so as to ensure that the economy is sustainable. I suggest that the government provide more welfare benefits for the older workers so as to ensure that they have an enjoyable time in their golden years. I think the government can organize "meet-the-workers" session for employers so that both parties (the employers and older workers) can get to understand each other better and compromise accordingly. In this way, both parties would be satisfied and it also benefits Singapore's economy.
