Professor Chan Kar-choi, a lecturer at CUHK’s department of social work, who specialises in gerontology, tells us: “In terms of the society at large, I think Hong Kong’s productive force is dwindling because of this population change. In order to maintain enough people to engage in the labour force, it makes sense to expand the retirement age.”Lau writes that although Hong Kong has no compulsory retirement age, the government recently increased the retirement age of new civil servants from 60 to 65, and that, in the private sector, the retirement age remains around 60.
Dr Mak Kin-wah, chairman of the Hong Kong Society for the Aged (Sage), agrees with this perspective and says that an ageing population working past the typical retirement age could be a triple win. “It’s a win for the employer, a win for the community and a win for the individual person. The elderly are probably more patient. They’re more experienced and more educated, so they’re actually good employees. In Hong Kong, especially, where our economy is not really based on hard labour and is instead based on knowledge, this group of people can certainly contribute and pass their experiences on to the next generation of workers.”
Source: Time Out "Put out to pasture: Should Hong Kong scrap its retirement age?" (November 23, 2016)
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