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>About half of the number of Singaporean residents who are aged 50 and older are still working, which is good news for the Government. In the past few years, the Government has stepped up efforts to encourage older Singaporeans to continue working because as people live longer, they need to have enough savings for their retirement years. The number of older workers - 47.8 per cent of residents in this age group - is a new record that improves on the 46 per cent a year earlier and is a sharp rise on 35.9 per cent in 1991, when such data was first published by the then Labour Ministry. The Government's campaign does go some way in explaining the record. Employers, for instance, are more open to hiring older workers. But the reality is that these workers are compelled to carry on working because they do not have adequate savings, and unlike older Singaporeans of a generation ago, they have fewer children and many cannot rely on their children to support them in old age. As the baby boomers enter their sixth decade, there will be even more older workers, and in the white-collar sector. At the moment, the majority of older workers are in low-skilled jobs in such sectors as land transport, administrative and support services and restaurants. Employers in the white-collar sector should also not be closed to retaining retired workers on contracts. Business cycles may be short in the new global economy, but continuity is still important, and older workers do help provide that continuity with their institutional knowledge.
Few among the older workers are women. Unlike the men, they have more family responsibilities like housework, looking after the elderly and children. They can take on part-time or flexi-time work. But firms are generally still not as open to such arrangements. They should, even as the Government rolls out schemes to help older women get back into the workforce.
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