More men quit workforce in their 50s; NTUC wants more workers to be re-employed

By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 05 April 2010 2011 hrs

	Photos 1 of 1 People at a pedestrian crossing in downtown Singapore. (file picture)

 
SINGAPORE: The labour movement plans to get more people re-employed at work after it found men start dropping out of the workforce as they turn 50, well ahead of the retirement age of 62.

Efforts to boost Singapore's employment rates are expected to gain momentum in the coming years.

With Singapore's birth rates steadily declining, there will be fewer people joining the workforce in the future. So the labour movement wants more people to stay employed.

It said a one per cent increase in overall employment rate out of a workforce of two million locals will create a pool of 20,000 workers for the economy. That's more than half a year's cohort of babies.

That's why the movement has come up with a guide to re-employment to prepare companies and employees for the re-employment law come 2012.

That's when companies must offer re-employment once a worker reaches the retirement age of 62.

This is provided the worker is medically fit and has been satisfactory in his work performance.

Early efforts are needed to make sure employees themselves are willing to work past the retirement age.

But NTUC said it's seeing more men quitting the workforce once they reach their 50s.

Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General, National Trade Union Congress, said: "For some, perhaps after picking up the CPF, age 55, they may take it slow. Some may become self-employed and others for various reasons, including family duties, may also have left work.

“So for the exact reasons, we would have to study the data more carefully and to see which industries because it may also not be even across all industries."

Under its "Back to Work for Active Agers" initiative, the data collected will be used to form targeted programmes to reach out to this group and women who tend to drop out even earlier.

But when it comes to getting companies to re-employ older workers though, there has been progress.

For now, about 90 per cent or 890 unionised companies have committed to re-hiring over 9,000 workers in the unionised sector.

And it's hoped this will go up to 100 per cent by mid-next year.

It is also pushing for 60 per cent of unionised companies to have at least a formalised HR policy on re-employment by the end of this year.

Mr Heng also touched on what the National Wages Council (NWC) may consider at its upcoming meeting.

He said: "We are already seeing signs that the labour market is tightening and in certain pockets, skills shortages are beginning to appear. So I would think that the NWC will be considering things like productivity that leads to real wage growth on a trend basis which is important to be sustainable."

Mr Heng also urged employers to reward workers fairly especially for their sacrifices during the downturn
" 


---------------------------------------------------------------------

Createwealth8888:

Possible  reasons for these men who "quit"  :

• Golden Handshake
• Special Resignation for early retirement
• Second career opportunity 

How many of  these men really quit on their own? I wonder.