Singapore: Age Friendly Workforce Asia Conference Opens with Study Showing Younger Workers Less Likely To Hire Older Workers

At the "Age Friendly Workforce Asia 2011" conference held in Singapore November 3 and 4, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) announced the results of a study seeking to identify common factors that differentiate successful mature job-seekers from those who were unsuccessful. According to Ong Dai Lin, writing for TODAY, the study found that "[a] job-seeker above 40 stands a lower chance of snagging a job if he is interviewed by a panel of younger people. In contrast, his chances are substantially higher if the interviewers included people of similar age or those who are older."

Specifically, the likelihood of mature job-seekers getting and keeping the job jumped from 56.6% to 69.2% when they are faced with a mixed panel of young and old interviewers, instead of a panel comprising just younger people. In addition, the survey found that employability of mature workers increased when they are tech-savvy.

According to the conference sponsors, senior level decision makers came together to exchange ideas on business sustainability and lifelong employability: 400 CEOs and HR Directors "are revolutionising attitudes and harnessing new strategies towards an ageing workforce--the urgent reality of a greying phenomenon that is sweeping across Asia."

Also from TODAY:

Minister of State (Manpower) Tan Chuan-Jin felt that the study had "two key findings": One, diversifying the age composition of the recruitment selection panel increases a mature job seeker's chances. Two, the provision of flexible work arrangements helps widen the pool of mature job seekers.

Source: TODAY Online "Younger interviewers 'less likely to hire those above 40'" (November 4, 2011)