EMPLOYMENT OF OLDER WORKERS (Situation)

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi asked the Minister for Labour what is the latest situation concerning the employment of older workers and what further plans his Ministry has to assist these workers to stay in employment.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, with the economic recovery, the unemployment rate has declined across all age groups. For September 1987, the estimates were: 4.0% for those below 30 years old, 2.8% for those 30-39 years old, 3.6% for those 40-49 years old and 4.0% for those above 50 years old. These rates are still higher than those prevailing in the early 1980's when the unemployment rate for those above 30 years old was about 2%. Consequently we have more older unemployed persons today than in the early 80s. For example, an estimated 13,000 or 30% of the unemployed persons in September 1987 were above 40 years old compared to 5,200 or 15% in 1980.

Older unemployed persons tend to remain unemployed for longer periods than the younger ones. The median duration of unemployment in June 1987 for those between 40-49 years old was 28 weeks compared to 12 weeks for those below 30 years old. Older persons thus have greater difficulty securing jobs once they become unemployed. They are less adaptable and find it difficult to accept lower pay. This is exacerbated by our traditional seniority-based wage system. In the longer term, as more companies reform their wage systems and relate salaries more closely to the worth of the jobs, hopefully this problem will be reduced.

One other area which we have been monitoring is the preference of employers for younger workers, evident in those job advertisements in the newspapers where upper age limits are specified. Many advertisers have agreed to remove the upper age limits. My Ministry will continue to monitor the situation and to urge employers not to rule out older job-seekers based on age alone but to give them a fair chance of being considered for the jobs.

The best way of ensuring that our workers, young or old, remain employed is through economic growth and the creation of new jobs. Older workers must be prepared to learn new skills and to adapt to changing job requirements. The experience of the last recession has shown that older, less educated workers are particularly vulnerable to unemployment because they lack relevant skills and the ability to learn new skills.

Dr Ang Kok Peng: Sir, may I ask the Minister how many statutory boards are retaining the services of their low income employees aged over 60 years? And would the Minister agree that the information I am seeking now should be given fair publicity so that the private sector employers could be encouraged to follow suit.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Sir, I do not have the figure, but I will take up his comments.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, what opportunities do older workers have to learn new skills?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: There are various training schemes, for example, by the NTUC, the VITB and others. It is a question of the older job seekers being willing to adjust and learn new skills. I think the problem involves both the employers and the employees. On the one hand, we have instances of employers who are unwilling to employ older workers. On the other hand, we find that some of the older job seekers tend to stick to their previous salaries which are above the market value or their skills are no longer relevant to the current situation. If they are willing, they can come to my Ministry. We will try and find them jobs. Or they can go to my Ministry or the NTUC for assistance to find suitable training schemes.