Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Manpower
Mr Gerard Ee, Chairman of Council for Third Age
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning! It gives me great pleasure to be here today, to honour employers who have implemented age-friendly policies and practices in their organisations.

This is the second year that Singapore has participated in the AARP International Innovative Employers Award, and I am pleased to see three Singapore companies emerge winners out of the 29 worldwide applications received by AARP. I understand that the quality of all the submissions from Singapore this year is very high.

On this note, I would like to commend Housing Development Board (HDB), National Healthcare Group and Royal Plaza on Scotts. We certainly need more employers like these three who recognise the value of older workers and strive to make the workplaces more conducive for them. I am sure many older workers would love to be part of your organization.

It is increasingly well known that Singapore has one of the fastest ageing societies in the world. By 2030, the number of residents aged 50 and above will double to 1.8 million in 2030, making up 40% of our population. We are also living longer, with life expectancy increasing from 65 years in 1965 to 80 years today.

This demographic shift should give both employers and employees pause for thought. Employers would be concerned about how they can recruit and retain good staff. Employees would need to work and save longer to match their extended lives.

Against this backdrop, those who can should work longer and contribute to the workforce and community for as long as possible. Working longer helps people stay physically active, mentally alert, socially connected and financially self-reliant. This will be increasingly possible as our new old, baby boomers, are better educated, more independent and expect to live active golden years.

Despite that, the common lament heard in society is: “I want to work, I can work, but no one will hire me once they know my age”. Or it will be the case of older workers being the last to be hired, but first to be asked to go. These perceptions are not always true. In the current downturn, even PMETs in their 30s and 40s have been affected.

In a labour scarce country like ours, employers need to understand that older workers are increasingly assets that we should tap on. Many employers are still learning how to do this well, although I am reasonably optimistic that this can be achieved. Our employment rate for workers aged 55 – 64 years is 57% today. So we still have a long way to go to reach our target of 65% by 2012.

On its part, the government has put in place many schemes aimed at helping people to work longer. One of the key initiatives is the Re-employment Legislation, which will take effect in 2012. Tripartite partners are already working the ground to ensure that this legislation will be smoothly implemented. For example, the Tripartite Advisory for Re-employment of Older Workers was released in March 2008 to help companies implement re-employment practices.

Unfortunately there are many employers who are not doing anything now, and seem to be waiting for the law to be passed. My advice is: Don’t wait; start working on it now. You have only just over 2 years to get ready.

There are schemes that can be tapped to help companies recruit, retain or re-employ mature workers. The ADVANTAGE! Scheme which started in 2005, has seen more than 1,200 companies participate in this programme. These companies have committed to recruit over 5,300 mature workers, retain 19,300 older workers and re-employ 8,800 older workers. In this current downturn, we have intensified skills upgrading and training for all workers, including older ones.

However, there is only so much that legislation and schemes can do. The key challenge still remains: How do we ensure that jobs and workplaces are suitable for older people, with diverse skills and education and help them to stay employed?

All parties have a role to play to make this happen.

There are ways that employers can harness the wisdom and years of experience that these mature workers bring with them.

Counseling plays an important role. Older workers need to understand the physical, emotional and social needs to stay employed. Companies that have regular engagement with older workers tend to get more satisfied re-employed workers. NHG has a counseling process to engage older workers early.

Some senior workers prefer flexible work arrangements. Royal Plaza at Scotts has done several things, including allowing longer hours on certain days, and shorter hours on other days. It has also allowed staff to go on permanent afternoon shift to enable them to send their grandchildren to school.
Training is important, too. I am happy to learn that HDB offers learning credits of up to $500 per year to their staff who are 50 years and above under the Self Directed Learning Scheme, which allows them to identify and attend courses beyond HDB’s current training curriculum.

Older workers themselves also have to take responsibility to remain employable by staying current with the changing economic environment. They can enroll themselves for courses at any of the current 48 Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres.

Today’s workplace is one that is multi-generational. Employers now face a mix of employees across age groups, each with different needs, motivation, life goals and work ethics. This brings about new challenges. For example, older workers have to report to younger supervisors. This is becoming more common today. A Businessweek Study in 2008 found that one of the key issues impacting today’s workplace is that of generational tensions.

That said, all of you here have done well in promoting inter-generational bonding amongst your staff. A recent survey of baby boomers¹ found that a stimulating workplace and the chance to guide or mentor younger workers were more important than income continuity and work hours.

Take the case of Royal Plaza on Scotts. You have implemented a buddy system where re-employed older staff are paired with younger co-workers. This is one of the creative ways in which the young and the seniors can interact and learn from one another. The older worker can update their skills in operating the sales system, whereas the younger worker can tap on the wisdom of the older co-worker to deal with difficult customers.

Similarly, National Healthcare Group places their mature workers into leadership positions to guide their younger staff. For example, in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Mr Chio Cheng Kay, a 67 year-old Nurse Manager, leads and mentors over 40 healthcare workers in two infectious diseases wards. Here, this story reminds us that age is but just a number. So long as an individual is given the opportunity to shine, I’m sure they will be able to do so. Moreover, in this case, it is a win-win situation for both employer and employee.

With an ageing population looming ahead, organisations need to start exploring flexible work arrangements for mature workers. Sometimes, a little help goes a long way. This is in addition to having to combat ageism in recruitment and retention practices. Employers also need to recognise that retraining and retaining older workers can also make good business sense.

With that, please let me congratulate all 3 winners here today for their exemplary efforts to engage mature workers. I hope that more employers can work together with us to build a culture where seniors are engaged in purposeful and fulfilling work, for as long as they are able to.

Thank you!

¹Based on Singapore Baby Boomers Survey, prepared by A/P Angelique Chan and Dr Yap Mui Teng for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.