Daily Lessons from Life 14 May 2012 - 9 in 10 S'poreans over 62 still employed

"9 in 10 S'poreans over 62 still employed - AsiaOne May 14, 2012

Nine out of 10 Singaporeans over the age of 62 remain employed, and earn the same wages.

This is what Minister for Manpower Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam reported during Parliament on Monday.

In a survey of 11,500 local employees, nearly two-thirds of them had carried on working on their existing employment terms (also known as 'sail-through cases'), while about 30 per cent were re-employed under a new contract.

Of this latter group, 96 per cent or almost all had no change in their job scope.

For all employees who continued working in the same job beyond 62, including both sail-through cases or those re-employed on a term contract, 95 per cent or almost all were paid at least the same wages.

Mr Shanmugaratnam said: "The high proportion of workers who continued to be employed beyond the age of 62 last year in the same job, and paid at least the same wages, is likely to be the result of the tight labour market conditions and the success of tripartite efforts to promote re-employment."

He added that with the Retirement and Re-employment Act coming into effect in January this year, employers are now legally obliged to offer re-employment to all local employees who have satisfactory performance and are medically fit."

It is heartening to learn that 90% of Singaproeans over 62 are still employed and being paid at the same wages they were drawing just prior to hitting 62 years old.

Lessons for me are:

1. IF you want to work after reaching 62 years old, you STILL can in Singapore;

2. the reason WHY you have to continue working, hopefully is not because that is the ONLY way for you to live as your kids, assuming you have, will NOT be able to look after you after having to look after their own immediate families! If that is the case, it will be the new 'normal'. That you don't retire and live happy ever after IF you don't have the money after 62 years old;

3. the Singaoreans reaching 62 years old MUST be educated or re-educated that the new 'normal' is to work till you die IF you don't have enough money. There will be NO state help unless your kids, if you have any, are broke and poor as the church mouse. As to the question what is the responsibility of the state here? Well, it is the last resort. You are supposedly to 'take self-responsibility' till the very last.

Is this what the state is supposed to do? I am not sure. I know there can be NO FREE LUNCH. The state CANNOT support indefinetly unproductive old people. Still, there needs to be some mechanism to take care of those who REALLY fall through the cracks.

Maybe we are just a bit hard-nose about it and only extend the helping hand for the MOST deserving cases since we have to ration our national reserves for many more years to come?