To help a greater number of mature Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) secure jobs, e2i announced it will be running a series of competency workshops that are targeted at HR practitioners. It hopes to raise awareness of unintended discrimination towards mature PMEs and encourage more companies to adopt competency-based HR practices.
The first of such seminars took place on 8 November, where 140 participants learned how companies could rely on HR practices that would be more mature PME-friendly by focusing on the potential candidate’s competencies instead of age and educational qualifications.
Singapore has for the past three years seen a growing number of PMEs in the labour market, with an increase in the number of PME jobseekers.
However, e2i revealed that the success rate of mature PMEs aged 40 and above being placed in jobs had been lower. Figures showed that the percentage of mature PMEs placed in jobs was lower than the percentage of those who sought assistance.
Observations from a focus group of more than 40 employers showed that employers perceive mature jobseekers to be less adaptable, had more difficulty in integrating into a ‘young’ environment and were less able to pick up new skills
Similarly, the shortlisted rate of PMEs being put to the next round of interviews or being offered jobs at job fairs reduced with the increase in age.
