Older people in Singapore's workforce - Record High

MOM reported that boosted by the sustained economic growth and strong job creation in recent years, a record high proportion of the older resident population was employed in Jun 07, mainly reflecting the entry of many older people into the workforce.

Nevertheless, there is still a sizeable pool of older residents outside the labour force, particularly among women.

The majority of the older economically inactive women have limited or no labour market experience, suggesting that efforts to help them enter the workforce could be complemented by suitable skills upgrading and work preparation programmes, in addition to facilitating part-time and flexible work options.

In Jun 07, 47.8% of the resident population aged 50 & over were employed, surpassing the previous record¹ of 46.0% a year ago.

There were 469,400 employed residents aged 50 & over in Jun 07, constituting 26% of the resident workforce. Land transport & supporting services (52%), administrative & support services (incl. cleaning and security services) (42%) and restaurants (41%) had the highest incidence of older workers, with more than four in ten of their resident workers aged 50 & over. At the other end, the incidence of older workers was lowest in IT & other information services (5.8%), electronic products manufacturing and financial institutions (both 12%).

The majority of older workers were in salaried (73%) and full-time employment (90%). However, older workers were more likely to be self-employed (27%) and work part-time (10%) than those younger (11% and 4.8% respectively).

The vast majority of older job seekers sought employment mainly because of financial considerations. Two in three (66%) job seekers aged 50 & over in Jun 06 wanted to work mainly because they needed money for current expenses. Another 12% sought work for future financial security. Only a minority cited non-monetary factors such as needing to occupy time (6.3%), wanting to lead an active life/have social contact at work (6.1%), or having a sense of purpose/being useful (3.9%) as their main reason for seeking work.

Image Source Careerhub.
Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook Group. Now on Mobile!