The Borneo Post (Sabah)

Preparing for Malaysia’s future older workforce

-

KUALA LUMPUR: Having retired a er working for 33 years, Vijay Nadarajah, 61, wants nothing more than to return to work.

It has been almost two years since he moved back to Malaysia from overseas, where he had spent about 18 years in countries like Indonesia, Oman and Pakistan working for a Hong Kong-based internatio­nal port management company.

Under company policy, he had to retire once he hit 60, the same as in Malaysia. He spent the first six months of retirement visiting his twin daughters in Canada with his wife. But once back home in Shah Alam, Selangor, filling his days playing golf and travelling was not an option.

“I mean, I understand that, you know, (my former company) has this (policy of mandatory retirement age at 60). But I just feel you still have a lot of capacity to deliver, especially these days,” he told Bernama.

As such, he scoured available job postings and applied for anything and everything that looked good. He hired a headhunter to find him a job. He took classes to improve his skills and stay up to date. He signed up with a recruitmen­t portal that connects senior citizens with prospectiv­e employers.

Like many his age, he does not consider himself ready to be put out to pasture, feeling that 60 is the new 50. Thanks to advances in healthcare and improved living standards, Malaysians are living longer and healthier lives. Add to that the declining birth rate and the fact that the average age of a Malaysian worker in the future is expected to be older than the current 25 to 29 years.

And yet, there has not been enough focus on trying to help retirees find employment although a few – such as HireSenior­s, the recruitmen­t portal for people above 50, and TalentCorp – have started the ball rolling.

Malaysia hit ageing nation status in 2021 with seven percent of the population aged 65 and above, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM). Come 2030, it will likely increase to 14 percent, making Malaysia an aged nation. The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) said projection­s suggest that people above 60 will reach 7.3 million by 2040.

New 60-year-olds in Malaysia can expect to live another decade or so, with an additional 18.2 years for men and 20.9 for women, according to DoSM.

At the same time, the fertility rate has been trending downwards, hi ing a low of 1.6 children per woman in 2023. Economists say a 2.1 birth rate is needed to replace the current workforce. To make up for the shortage, older people would likely have to remain in the workforce for much longer.

“People are recognisin­g that we are, you know, becoming an aged society and therefore we, the employers, have to be more open about this and know that they have to rely on the seniors as well,” said Siew Eng, human resource director at HireSenior­s.

“So, they should not just drop the idea of hiring seniors because I think seniors offer a huge wealth of experience.”

But despite the acknowledg­ement that the average age of people in the labour force in the future will be older, there has not been much cha er regarding job opportunit­ies for senior citizens. Instead, most of the discussion seems to be centred on improving and increasing healthcare facilities and services for the elderly as well as the importance of saving for retirement.

What few available services to connect seniors with jobs remain limited or very new.

For instance, the government­linked Talent Corporatio­n Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp), which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Human Resources, has several programmes to assist Malaysian seniors in finding jobs. The programmes include the Career Comeback Programme for returning Malaysian expats.

TalentCorp Group chief executive Thomas Mathew said the government is also actively involved in the National Ageing Blueprint (NAB) study, scheduled to be completed in 2024. The NAB is a comprehens­ive policy framework for addressing the multifacet­ed issues and challenges that the elderly face.

“Seeing this, TalentCorp has taken proactive steps since June last year to ensure these senior employees may obtain employment and continue to contribute meaningful­ly to the country. Although on a small scale, the first step is always to change the future and provide for their economic needs,” he said.

TalentCorp forged a collaborat­ion with the ExServicem­en Affairs Corporatio­n (PERHEBAT) this year. PERHEBAT assists veterans of the Armed Forces of Malaysia with a second career.

As for HireSenior­s, Siew Eng said she believes they are the only recruitmen­t portal catering specifical­ly to seniors for now and their services are only available in the Klang Valley.

One of the reasons there seems to be a disparity between the acknowledg­ement that older people will comprise a bigger chunk of the workforce in the future versus the lack of senior-focused employment opportunit­ies and connection­s could be age discrimina­tion against the elderly and the belief that the elderly have outlived their usefulness.

Experts told Bernama ageism is absolutely prevalent in the Malaysian job market. They said many companies place age limits when recruiting employees, such as excluding candidates above 40 years of age.

MEF vice-president Farid Basir said it is a shame as many retirees and senior citizens have a wealth of experience and wisdom they can share with the younger generation and help with the knowledge transfer.

“By keeping them in the workforce longer in Malaysia, we can retain these skills and prevent potential knowledge gaps that may occur due to the mass retirement­s,” he said.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Malaysia