By Shukry Rashid
NTUC Deputy Secretary-General and MP for Jalan Besar GRC Heng Chee How
Mr Heng, like all other Labour MPs, supported the Bill, but thought that it is “not sufficient to maximise the working years of mature workers”.
To help mature workers stay employed or be re-employable in the changed and changing job environment, he called for measures that can help mature workers stay valuable and cost competitive. To facilitate this, he suggested an extension to the Special Employment Credit.
Efforts also needed to be stepped up to educate companies of the ageing Singaporean workforce and to increase publicity of mature workers.
He called for measures to help match displaced workers quickly to new work, which can be done by improving the knowledge on where the jobs are and displacements of today and the future. Enhancing social support and lowering switching costs for displaced mature workers undergoing retraining for new jobs and sectors are other steps needed to ensure increased efficiency and effectiveness in job and training matching.
He also urged the structural reformation of work and law by ramping up the WorkPro scheme. Retirement and re-employment ages based on occupation are also something that the tripartite partners can study further.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General and MP for West Coast GRC Patrick Tay
Mr Tay said that the Employment Assistance Programme (EAP) has to be regularly reviewed upwards to keep pace with rising median wages. He urged the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to regularly monitor EAP amounts and abuse to prevent it from becoming a tool for exploitation for employers.
The Government must also continue to encourage mature workers to embrace lifelong learning to stay relevant.
NTUC Central Committee Member and Nominated MP K Thanaletchimi
Ms Thanaletchimi called for more measures to help workers, especially those aged beyond 62 and 65, who have lost their jobs and are actively seeking for a new one.
She hoped that MOM would consider increasing the retirement age to 65 at a suitable time in the medium term and to allow for re-employment age without a limit. She also urged MOM to consider and monitor the quota of foreign workers to older Singaporean workers without affecting the opportunities for the younger workforce.
NTUC Director, Industry Transformation and Productivity and MP for Tampines GRC Desmond Choo
To incentivise employers further to continue the employment of mid-level mature workers, Mr Choo urged the Government to consider the extension of the Special Employment Credit (SEC) and review its ceiling cap.
He also called for more support and protection for workers who are being re-employed by another company. For example, there is a need for safeguards against dodgy companies that plan to use new a company for the purpose of re-employment transfers, only to liquidate it after. He also suggested more training programmes and leaves support by the Government for these workers to smoothen this transition phase.
There is also a need for dedicated channels and platforms, with curated silver-friendly jobs, to help mature workers function well in jobs they are suited for.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General and MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Zainal Sapari
Mr Zainal said that Singapore should not look at a single retirement age. Instead, he suggested a retirement age based on age cohorts, which will be a step towards removing retirement age and allowing workers to work as long as they want and can.
He also suggested more protection for mature workers’ interests. These include the Employment Assistance Programme for mature workers who transferred to a new employer but the employer did not extend the re-employment contract into the second year, fairer work performance and medical assessment, plan workers’ re-employment a year ahead so that they make better decisions, and a law to extend re-employment contract terms beyond a one-year renewal.
Incentives could also be provided to companies that can strategically map out a second career for employees as early as 45 years into workers’ lives.
NTUC Director (Industrial Relations Field) and MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC Melvin Yong
Mr Yong stressed that it is important to realise the intrinsic value of mature workers and the wealth of experience they bring to companies and its younger workers. He also suggested the need to change work processes to adapt to an ageing workforce through open dialogues between employers, unions and employees.
Source: NTUC This Week
