Singapore: Seniors Group Calls for Legislation Raising Re-Hiring Age to 67

According to news reports, the PAP Seniors Group (PAP.SG)—the seniors advocacy arm of the People's Action Party (PAP)—has submitted a position paper to Singapore's Ministry of Manpower, calling for legislation to increase the rehiring age for older workers from 65 to 67.

PAP.SG believes that while past legislative changes in the employment of older workers, coupled with the government grants and incentives, have helped older workers aged 55 to 64 years, he Government's plan to roll out incentives next year to coax more employers to raise the reemployement age to 67 is unlikely to be as effective as making it the law, especially in non-unionized sectors, where most workers are employed.

Sources: AsiaOne "PAP.SG calls for legislation to raise rehiring age for older workers" (November 18, 2014); Straits Times "Make it a law for firms to lift re-employment age from 65 to 67: PAP Seniors Group" (November 18, 2014)

United Kingdom: 55 Plus Struggling To Find Work through Government Program

According to AgeUK, an analysis of the United Kingdom’s Work Programme finds that participants aged 55 and over are finding it harder than any other age group to move back into work, with the problem particularly acute for those 60 and over.

The figures show that of the 9,500 people aged over 60 referred by Job Centre Plus to the Work Programme in the first 14 months of the scheme, only 140 people (1.48%) managed to find a job through the scheme.

For people aged 55-59 the rate was 2.79 %. These figures compare to a success rate for 18-24 year olds of 3.78% and (3.75%) for those aged 25-34. The overall rate is 3.56%.

Commenting on these figures, Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director General of Age UK said that they are a "stark reminder of the huge challenges facing unemployed older people. Many are being locked out of the job market for no reason other than their age." One step that AgeUK is recommending is for the government to refer older people to the program sooner than the current 12 months after being out of work. In addition, AgeUK is urging that the contractors running program receive incentives to encourage them to find jobs for older people.

Source: AgeUK "Over 55s let down by Government’s Work Programme" (December 12, 2012)

Canada: Report on Employment Practices and Employability of Mature Workers in Montreal

Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) has followed up its report on the perceived challenges of mature workers throughout the greater Montreal area with a survey of employers, recruitment agencies and employment service providers to understand their perspectives on the opportunities or challenges associated with hiring a mature worker. Among other things, CEDEC's "Employment Practices and Employability of the Hidden Talent Pool: The Mature Workers Report" suggests that mature workers maintain a positive reputation in the workforce, but also reports that stakeholders mentioned several critical factors affecting English-speaking mature workers’ capacity to find employment.

For example, CEDEC reports that "employers perceive older workers as generally stable, productive, committed, responsible, and highly motivated with strong work ethics." However, it also reports that workers "have difficulty finding employment; they experience various levels of prejudice (ageism) when looking for work and are keenly aware that they are being discriminated against as a result of their age." The factors that CEDEC finds employers citing as barriers to employability include a lack of French language skills, unrealistic salary expectations, lack of technological (mostly computer) skills, a resistance to change and unwillingness to work long hours or overtime.

CEDEC recommends that:

• the government should also be sensitized to the need to hire mature candidates for federal and provincial jobs.
• companies should have concrete strategies for retaining mature employees in their workforce.
• companies should understand and address the motivations and needs of mature employees while seeing the benefits of keeping mature workers on board.

Source: Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation News Release (October 5, 2012)

Survey: Hiring Managers Prefer Mature Workers

According to a survey, conducted by Braun Research, Inc on behalf of Adecco Staffing US, hiring managers are three times more likely to hire a mature worker (60%) than a Millennial (20%). In addition, 91% of the hiring managers across a range of industries say they view mature workers as reliable and 88% considering them professional.

In the "Adecco Staffing Mature Worker Survey," found that there were hiring barriers for both age groups. While 39% of hiring managers didn’t see any challenges in hiring mature workers, compared to 27% for Millennials, 39% said the greatest challenge to hiring mature workers is their difficulty in learning/adapting to new technology, while--with respect to Millennials--46% of hiring managers viewed their unknown long-term commitment to a company as the biggest possible liability.

The survey also noted problems for both groups in the interview process:

Specifically, 51 percent of hiring managers cited mature workers’ biggest interview mistake as “high salary/compensation demands,” followed by 48 percent that cited “overconfidence in their abilities and experience.” For Millennials, the biggest mistakes were “wearing inappropriate interview attire” (75 percent) and “posting potentially compromising content on social media channels” (70 percent).

Source: Press Release (September 26, 2012)

Switzerland: Companies Begin To Look to Older Workers To Fill Skills Gap

A survey conducted by Monster.ch reports that 75% of Swiss companies say they see recruitement of people over age 50 as a solution to the shortage of qualified workers. However, only 37% of them are actually regularly hiring people over age 50, and 34% say they do not want to keep people on as salaried employees once they reach age 65.

"2012 Switzerland Recruiting Trends" („Recruiting Trends 2012 Schweiz“) documents the important trends and challenges of recruitment in Switzerland and contains estimates of the economic development of the labor market, and finds that the shortage of skilled labor remains a central problem of recruitment in Switzerland. Nine out of ten employers say that the age of their employees does not really matter, and that what is important is the true performance of employees. In addition, 86.3% want to keep their employees as long as possible in the company.

Sources: Monster.ch Press Release (May 23, 2012); Genevalunch.com "Message to older workers: we love you, we want you but not just yet" (May 23, 2012)

Australia: Government Proposes $1,000 Bonus for Hiring Workers Over 50

The Australian government has announced that it will budget $10 million for new "Jobs Bonuses" to help tackle age discrimination and encourage businesses to employ older Australian who want to stay in the workforce, among other things providing $10,000 for employers who recruit and retain a mature age job seeker for more than three months. The initiative is part of the "Government Response to the Final Report of the Advisory Panel on the Economic Potential of Senior Australians."

Included in the response to the Advisory Panel report "Turning Grey into Gold" are funds to extend the Corporate Champions program to provide support to employers who wish to promote mature aged employment at their workplace, to extend the Career Advice service by two years to ensure mature age people have access to free, professional career advice, and to promote lifelong learning by expanding education opportunities by adult and community education providers and community organisations to older Australians.

In addition, the government plans to expand the More Help for Mature Age Workers initiative, to now be called the "Investing in Experience - Skills Recognition and Training" program, to allow industries to benefit from improving the skills of their over 50's workforces. To help address age discrimination and stereotyping of older workers, the government will also provide funds to the Age Discrimination Commissioner to address age discrimination, age stereotyping and ageism more generally, and will review Commonwealth legislation to identify age barriers that prevent continued participation in the workforce for people aged 45 years and over.

Source: Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Media Release (April 18, 2012)

Reaction: National Seniors Media Release (April 18, 2012); SilverTemp "Employers to get $1000. bonus for hiring older workers" (April 17, 2012)

United Kingdom: Survey of Industry Employers Finds Preference for Older Unemployeds

EAL (Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited) has released a survey of 500 industry managing directors and those responsible for HR and training finding that they are less likely to recruit school leavers due to the greater availability of more qualified and experienced applicants during the unemployment crisis. Specifically, 48.2% said the availability of older, experienced candidates who are unemployed made them less likely to offer opportunities to school leavers, and in engineering and manufacturing, almost 70% of employers reported a negative impact on opportunities for young people as a result of current trends.

According to EAL, construction and building services were the industries least affected, with around half of respondents reporting their stance towards school leavers as unchanged by the availability of graduate or adult jobseekers.

Ann Watson, Managing Director of EAL, said: “These findings are a stark reminder of the long-term dangers this country faces if the jobs crisis isn’t resolved. The engineering and manufacturing industry, especially, is already facing a real challenge to develop the skilled employees needed for the future, as existing staff approach retirement age."

Source: EAL Press Release (April 10, 2012)

Singapore: Eligibility, Health Insurance Issues Arising under Reemployment Law for Older Workers

Since Singapore's Retirement and Re-employment Act came into effect on January 1, 2012, a number of issues have arisen, according to press reports. Deputy Prime Minister and Manpower Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has stated during Parliamentary questions, that 14 dispute cases relating to the reemployment rights of older workers have been presented to the Ministry, and Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin has called on employers to work with insurance companies to ensure that the medical needs of those reemployed are met.

With respect to the dispute cases, Shanmugaratnam said most of the cases were over eligibility for re-employment, but otherwise that implementation has been smooth. He urged employers to refer to the "Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees" which provides advice on engaging employees and in making re-employment offers.

With respect to health insurance, Tan said issues are arising with respect to newly re-employed persons more so than older employees continuing to work for their employer. For those affected, hed said that if "an insurance company does not extend the coverage of the scheme up to the age of 65 and also requires re-employed employees to be re-assessed, the employer should work with the insurance company to address this issue so that the medical needs of these employees can continue to be met." In addition:

Industry feedback drawn from various briefing and outreach sessions has shown that companies have already raised the coverage of their group medical insurance schemes for their employees to the age of 65, or beyond. In such cases, re-employed workers would continue to enjoy medical benefits under their company’s medical insurance schemes. By so doing, they would avoid the risk of being denied coverage for existing medical conditions that were previously covered.

Sources: Channel News Asia "Employers to ensure medical needs of older workers are met: Tan Chuan-Jin" (April 9, 2012); Manpower Ministry Parliament Questions and Replies (April 9, 2012)

Australia: Chamber Encourages Employers to Hire Older Workers and Others "Outside the Box"

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has launched a campaign to encourage employers to hire "outside the box" when they next recruit. To bolster the workforce, the ACCI says Australia needs to increase participation amongst mature aged people, women with caring responsibilities, indigenous Australians, people with a disability, and from the unemployed including youth. According to ACCI Chief Executive Peter Anderson, "With ageing demographics, sluggish productivity and forecast skill shortages, industry needs to think laterally and long term when it comes to recruitment."

As part of its campaign, ACCI has released both "Employ Outside the Box: The rewards of a diverse workforce" and "The Business Case for Recruiting and Retaining Mature Age Workers." The latter is intended to be a practical guide presenting a business case as to an employer should consider employing "outside the box" when it comes to the next hire, with a specific focus on "a significant and often highly skilled and work ready group currently 'outside the box'"--mature aged workers.

There are varying definitions of a mature aged worker, some use 45+ others 50+, with an extension of range to beyond 75 years. There are, of course, differences in approach needed for each age group as their needs may differ.

With this guide, we have tried to concentrate on the common issues. Issues that confront particularly the more senior mature aged workers includes elements of health, retirement, stage of life, impending lifestyle changes &
experience.

Among other things, the guide offers separate, multi-step advice to employers on (1) getting started by developing a strategy to recruit and retain mature aged workers, (2) keeping mature age workers that an employer already has, and (3) recruiting mature age workers. In addition, the guide offers good practices in age management, including:

Good practices should include appropriate retention and recruitment strategies to cover those who have left the workforce as well as offering attractive roles and working conditions for employees who might otherwise consider retirement.

Emphasis is placed on flexibility of workplace conditions and suitable jobs as attractors for employees (noting increased opportunities for mentoring and training roles). Retention of experience should be a prime driver.

Good practice also comprises combating age barriers & providing an environment in which each individual is able to work towards achieving his/her potential without being disadvantaged by their age.

Other key components are job recruitment and exit, training and development, suitable ergonomics and job design and positive attitudes towards mature aged workers.

Source: Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Media Release (March 20, 2012)

Netherlands: Report Shows Older Workers Not Getting Hired

UWV's annual report of Dutch vacancies shows that only two percent of vacancies in 2011 were filled by workers 55 and over. The report ("Vacatures in Nederland 2011") also states, among other things, that the proportion of companies workers over 55 in service decreased to 54% from the 60% indicated by companies surveyed in 2010.

In response, UMV says that it will make 150 additional coaches available working for free as guides for older workers.

Source: UWV Press Release (March 6, 2012)

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)

United Kingdom: Survey Shows Unemployment, Hiring Issues for Workers 55 Plus

A survey released by Aviva shows that 39% of over-55s have experienced redundancy, enforced early retirement or stopped work due to illness in the run up to retirement, and that 74% say it is harder to find work after their 55th birthday. Breaking down the numbers, "The Aviva Real Retirement Report: Issue Six" reports that Indeed, 15% report being made redundant, 11% were forced to stop work due to illness, and 11% were forced into early retirement.

In reaction to their financial difficulties, 68% of the over-55s said it has had a detrimental effect on their retirement finances, with 34% having to cut back on their lifestyle, 7% worrying about how to pay an outstanding mortgage and 11% considering using assets such as their house to pay for retirement. Nevertheless, the report says that 5% of over-55s saw the "count-down" to retirement as the opportunity to choose to move to "part-tirement" and 3% to start their own business.

In a story following up on the Aviva report, Jo Thornhill writes in This is Money that "The pensions crisis means over-55s will need a 'patchwork' of roles to boost retirement income". This would be a patchwork of part-time work, consultancy, self-employment and leisure time.

Source: Aviva News Release (June 29, 2011)

Germany: Government Targeting Older Workers, Others, To Fill Jobs Gap

According to press reports, the German government (eight ministries and the Chancellery) has drawn up a 27-page paper that (a) acknowledged that around 6.5 million fewer people will be available to work by 2025 due to an ageing population and low birth rates, and (b) rather than looking across the German borders for fresh blood, focuses the government's attention on women who gave up paid work to bring up their children, and older people.

With respect to older workers, The Local reports that the following from the government paper:

Older people and those without work are also being considered. The raising of statutory retirement age from 65 to 67 will increase the numbers of workers by a million by 2025, while the intention is also to encourage more people older than 55 to work. Currently only 56 percent of people over 55 work – should that increase to 70 percent as is the case in Sweden, it would add a further million people to the workforce.

Sources: TheLocal "Mothers and over-55s called back to work" (May 11, 2011); Süddeutsche Zeitung "Mütter, Alte und Arbeitslose: Ran an die Arbeit!" (May 11, 2011)

Canada: Older Workers Landing Jobs

According to an article by Tavia Grant in The Globe and Mail, older workers in Canada have been the biggest gainers in the workforce in 2010. In September alone, there were 37,000 more jobs for workers 55 and older even though overall jobs declined. While she cites a preference among employers for experience and the fact that more older people are actively looking for work than in decades past as factors, she also notes that older workers have become more willing to take a pay cut, making their cost more comparable to someone with less experience:

“Experienced workers are a valuable resource but they also are settling for lower wages,” said Jim Geraghty, president of Happen, a Canadian network for unemployed mid-level to senior managers and executives. “People today need to be more flexible and disregard the old salary expectations.”

Statistics Canada reported a 7.7% increase in job growth over the past year among men aged 55 and older and 5.9% among women over 55, while job creation was flat among middle-aged women and youth and had grown 2.3% for men aged 25 to 54.

Source: Globe and Mail "Experience trumps age in Canadian job market" (October 8, 2010)

Research: Why Hiring Rates of Older Workers Vary among Industries

The decision to remain in the workforce or fully retire is typically made between the ages of 55 and 64 and is predicated on many factors, including the availability of suitable jobs. In a paper published in Research on Aging, Geri Adler and Don Hilber explore the extent to which members of this age group are being hired by different industries and developed a model isolating what types of factors best determine relative hiring rates: those specific to an industry, a labor market, the older worker age group, or some combination thereof.

In their article ("Industry Hiring Patterns of Older Workers"), the authors estimate a low rate of new hiring for older workers aged 55 to 64 years, with low turnover and net outflows but substantial variability among industries. The findings additionally suggest that current national industry job growth and pay differentials among older new hires, existing older workers, and other new hires have the greatest bearing on how much these net flows vary by industry within states. Implications for older workers, their prospective employers, and policy makers are discussed.

Source: Research on Aging Abstract Vol 31, Issue 1 (2009)