Senior talent never truly retire
KUALA LUMPUR: The employment market for senior talent is a sizeable one as those with skills, experience and expertise are the most sought-after by organisations.
Jobstreet country manager Simran Kaur said organisations understood that strong leadership, coupled with good governance, served to propel their teams forward.
Leaders with an established track record of managing volatility, uncertainty, conflict and ambiguity (VUCA) successfully, she said, were in great demand, especially in the pandemic business climate.
“Senior workers are well placed to take on such leadership roles, armed with years of experience in navigating challenges and crises.
“Though they have the mettle to steer organisations out of tight spots, senior talent value a corporate culture that emphasises positivity. They tend to shine in organisations that seek out good leadership and leverages their strengths to grow people around them.”
Simran told the New Straits Times this when commenting on the viability of increasing the retirement age and what it would mean for the employment market.
Based on JobStreet’s recent Laws of Attraction study, which involved more than 10,000 Malaysian job-seekers, she said, senior talent exhibited a stronger preference for companies with a better reputation compared with talent in other age groups.
They appreciate working for financially stable companies with a high staff retention rate in established industries, she said.
She also said senior job-seekers never truly retire in this era and often returned to work for three reasons:
FIRSTLY, she said they were driven towards employment to continue earning a steady income to sustain their expenses and lifestyles that they may have enjoyed over their prime working years, while being financially independent of their kin.
SECONDLY, remaining in employment helped senior workers put their spare time to better use by keeping their expert minds honed on industry developments and not settle into an otherwise unexciting routine, she said.
“Employers and industries benefit strongly from senior workers’ continued participation in the workforce to contribute knowledge and expertise, which are built with age and experience.”
THIRDLY, Simran said, they wanted to avoid boredom from setting in by nourishing bonds with peers and colleagues in their social network.
On employment choices, she said senior workers typically searched for jobs that made the best use of their most invaluable asset — their experience.
“As such, they seek out senior management roles, which strategically places them in positions of influence, to multiply the impact of their experience and learning throughout their organisation.
“It also helps that a higher proportion of senior workers tend to have postgraduate qualifications than their younger peers — lending credence to their guidance and influence.”
Therefore, she said it depended on both sides with regard to companies’ re-employment policies where only those deemed fit and capable of contributing to the company were rehired on a contractual basis, instead of a blanket increase in retirement age.
“Some older employees may choose to be in a position where they prefer to be hired on a contractual basis (instead of a permanent basis).
“For example, going to work two to three times a week, instead of five days as per normal employees.
“On this note, most successful companies have a combination of youth
(who tend to be more enthusiastic) and senior employees (who are more experienced and have greater expertise).”
On avenues for seniors to get employment, Simran said, the easiest way of landing a job would be for senior talent to share their interest in re-entering/remaining in the workforce with their network of peers or friends, for their name to be put forth for suitable roles.
However, she said, searching for vacancies on job platforms remained the most effective way for senior talent to land a role that matches their experience and leverages their qualifications.
The vast opportunities listed on simple-to-use job platforms, such as like JobStreet, which has been enhanced with artificial intelligence features, made them ideal avenues for senior talent to power through a job search and land their post-retirement gig, she said.
“We advise those nearing retirement to be open to the idea of exploring opportunities at organisations that allow their full capabilities and experience to shine through.
“Take in your stride the new corporate culture that may come with working at another organisation, and look for opportunities to lay your mark.
“The expertise that you bring to the table is invaluable. We encourage you to influence the way of work at your new organisation to make it an enjoyable place to earn a keep.”
Meanwhile, MauKerja chief executive officer Ray Teng said it would be a good move, especially for senior employees, who were willing to work further, should Malaysia follow Singapore’s move in extending the retirement age to 65 or 70.
This initiative, he said, should not be made compulsory as employers and employees should be given a choice on the matter.
He also said two groups of senior employees preferred to remain in the employment market.
“Firstly, they are those who are financially comfortable, but they are bored and choose to remain employed to keep their brain active.
“The second group are those who require financial stability.
“These people can opt for jobs that are more relaxed or easier.
“This way, they do not need to rely on their adult children or the government to support their living.”
He said the only challenge was determining the kind of work suitable for those aged 60 and above.
“Physically, they might not be able to do labour-intensive work or long hours of work.”
He said this meant that senior citizens opting for blue-collar jobs could be assigned to lighter tasks.
“If they opt for white-collar jobs, they could become consultants or advisers.”
Teng added that the pandemic had normalised flexible working hours and remote working among employers, hence they should be able to offer employment to senior employers who prefer flexibility, such as in the role of advisers.