During his recent Singapore Budget 2023 speech, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong made the observation that Singapore is one of the fastest-ageing nations in the world. By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be over the age of 65. Therefore, senior workers constitute a significant portion of the labour force in Singapore.

The Government has been paying special attention to this older demographic of workers, increasing the statutory minimum retirement age to 63 from 1 July 2022. The employer and employee CPF contribution rates for employees aged above 55 to 70 have also been incrementally raised each year since 2022.

Yet against the backdrop of governmental support, ageism is sadly prevalent in Singapore! Some companies still practise various forms of age discrimination, such as excluding senior workers from workplace meetings or even pressuring them to retire. Stereotypes of how senior workers are less technologically savvy or productive at work are deeply ingrained—to the detriment of both employees and companies alike.

How does your company benefit from retaining senior workers?

The older one gets, the more essential knowledge and skills one accumulates along the way. Having already spent several decades in the workforce, senior workers have firsthand experience of working in a recession. Their strategic thinking abilities—coupled with crisis management and problem-solving skills—have been honed to perfection over the years.

Hence, when your company retains senior workers, you are able to harness their tremendous wealth of experience for your organisational success. These senior workers are in the best position to be mentors. No longer intimidated by the success of others, they are willing to generously impart knowledge to the next generation. There is simply no one more qualified to show the younger employees the ropes—and be that fountain of wisdom!

How can your company effectively tap into the talents of your senior workers?

Here are 3 ways your company can seamlessly integrate senior workers and leverage their expertise.

1. Offer Opportunities for Training and Development: Based on your company’s operational needs, you can redeploy your existing senior workers into other lines of work. In these alternative roles, they should nonetheless be able to capitalise on their core competencies.

As for any skills gap which may arise from the redeployment, your company can send your senior workers for upskilling courses to bridge those gaps. Besides communicating the importance of lifelong learning to your senior workers, your company can tailor the training to individual requirements for enhanced efficacy.

2. Provide Flexible Work Arrangements: Most senior workers desire a greater work-life balance, whether it be to enjoy their golden years or to take caregiving responsibilities. Be open to their requests for flexibility—if they prefer to have adjusted working hours or the option to work from home.

As such, your senior workers will still be able to make valuable contributions to your company. Providing flexible work arrangements for your senior workers will ensure a win-win situation for all parties involved.

3. Engage Them as Experts: Another way you can leverage the expertise of senior workers is to rope them in as expert consultants on an ad-hoc basis. Experts are those with specialised knowledge in a certain subject matter or niche.

The minimum criteria for expert consultants—such as appointment to a managerial position with at least 7 years of working experience—are easily met by some senior workers. This way, your company will still benefit from their profound insights.

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