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Studies as well as ground experience point to the likelihood of older workers taking longer to find new work if they lose their jobs. They also stand a higher chance of a lower starting pay even when they do find new jobs.
With rapid technological change and the need to move to a low carbon economy, it is going to increasingly affect certain industries and the jobs in them. Some of these industries have large numbers of older workers in them.
National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) Heng Chee How is calling for tripartite partners to identify and work proactively with these industries – the employers, workers, unions and government agencies – to identify the skills building that is needed for their older workers to have a part in the future of the industries, and to mobilise and leverage on effective implementation mechanisms to retrain and emplace such workers as new roles emerge and old ones fade away.
Reskilling Older Workers to Stay Employable
One sector that already knows that it would be impacted by both technological change and the switch to a low-carbon economy is that of public bus transportation. Public bus operators, the National Transport Workers Union (NTWU) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) have not only taken note of the changes, but have leveraged on their strong relationship to proactively reskill bus technicians as buses that run on the internal combustion engine progressively make way for electric vehicles. Future developments that enable more pervasive use of autonomous vehicles will also require retraining of skillsets to enable existing workers to adapt to the emerging technology or to new job roles.
Some additional examples of other sectors likely to similarly be affected would include the petrochemical industries, the power, gas and water industry.
At the same time, changes in demographic structure, such as that of a rapidly ageing Singapore population, would also bring about increased demand in a range of job roles and opportunities, many of which are possible for older workers to also take on, with suitable professional conversion and placement, making full use of the lead time.
DSG Heng believes that the key to success is the effectiveness of the “last mile” mechanism to execute actions on a sustained and deliberate basis to achieve outcomes within timelines. In this context, it is crucial to scale up Company Training Committees in such industries and have them spur company level action in skills building. This effort will also be helped by leveraging positive union-management relations at the company and industry level, including Tripartite Training Academies that focus on sector-specific skills-building. Such last mile effective implementation and collaboration will also help ensure that older workers are given a fair chance for skills retraining for employability. Staying employed is the best general booster for retirement adequacy.
Ensuring Adequate Retirement Adequacy
DSG Heng also applaud the strengthening of CPF contribution rates for older workers aged 55 and above on 1 Jan 2022. The benefit of such increases will be realised when the older worker holds a job. Hence, as we keep focus on the key priority of employability, NTUC will work with tripartite partners to see to the timely further enhancement of CPF savings, statutory retirement, and reemployment cases as agreed in the tripartite workgroup’s roadmap to 2030. Salary levels have generally risen over the years. Hence, NTUC also asks for updating of CPF eligibility thresholds to help middle income workers maintain their pace of CPF savings for eventual retirement.
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