Elder workers seeking better jobs before retirement: survey

SINGAPORE - Workers in Singapore are becoming more ambitious and seeking out new, higher paying job roles, even in their later years, a survey has found.

The biannual survey conducted by online job portal jobsDB included 1,893 participants from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

According to the online survey, 42 per cent of workers in Singapore are seeking positions with a salary between $1,500 to $3,499.

There was a significant increase in respondents from Singapore searching for roles in the $5,000 to $7,499 salary range, up 7 per cent from last October.

While there was a 3 per cent decrease in the number of job seekers in the 20 - 24 age bracket, there has been a 4 per cent increase of job seekers in the 45 - 49 age bracket.

This increase suggests that people are seeking out higher paying job roles to manage approaching retirement, jobsdb said in a press statement.

There was a decline in the number of Singapore respondents seeking roles in accountancy from 11 per cent in October 2012 to 6 per cent in the first half f 2013.

The number of Singapore job seekers looking for roles in banking and finance also decreased by 1 per cent.

Angeli Beltran, Managing Director of jobsDB Singapore and Malaysia, said: "In Singapore, we've noticed the developing trend around the demand for higher paying job roles amongst the older age range, which leads us to believe that Singapore workers are not wholly satisfied with their current role and salary and are looking for change in the lead up to their impending retirement."