Tough Road ahead for 45 and Older
A Discussion on Employment in Singapore
Unemployment statistics is
probably one of the most closely monitored indicators of the labour market.
Labour market
outcomes in June 2018 improved compared to a year ago. Employment has grown.
The employment rate remained high for residents aged 25 to 64, and continued to
rise firmly for older residents aged 65 & over. Over the same period, the
resident unemployment rate moderated for both PMETs and non-PMETs. The real
median income also continued to grow in the recent five years. MOM Report:
Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2018
Employment is an emotive as it
affects a person livelihood and standard of living. By seeking employment, a
worker more or less accepts the notion of seeking a stable income through
the provision of labour.
Recent discussions on minimum wage,
display of Government (G) statements on low unemployment vis a vis high number
of job vacancies, calls for skill upgrade and advertisements by Ministry of
Manpower (MoM) on their Adapt and Grow Scheme amongst the several other related
employment issues such as availability of good quality work, staffing by
foreign labour PMETs and calls for preferential treatment for native born
residents.
The discussion aims to provide
clarity to those that are characterized according to the categories listed in
Table 1. It acts as a sounding board
with making informed choices on future outcomes and serve to help with
providing clear directional thinking and providing goals with alleviating lost
self-esteem and personal hardship in the onward pursue of providing sustainable
life style.
Table
1: Categorisation of Unemployed, Persons outside of Labour Force,
Discouraged Worker and Part time Worker
Labels
/
Category
|
Not
Working
|
Actively
Looking for a Job
|
Available
for work
|
Unemployed
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Persons
outside of Labour force
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
Discouraged
Worker*
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Somewhat
|
Part
time Worker@
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
*A Discouraged Worker is one where
there is mismatch either in skillset, experience, discrimination, suitability
of work or lack of qualifications.
@Part time Worker is considered to
be employed.
Being without work
creates personal hardships. The loss of income results in less consumption and a lower living
standard. While this
"work for reward" is universal for any resource, it is most important
for labour force. Business owners often earn income from more than one
resource. Thus a loss of income from one resource is not a total loss of
income. Many workers, however, often earn income only from labour. The loss of
income from labour might mean a total loss of income.
The personal hardships suffered by total lost of income affecting those
in first 3 Categories of table 1 are of concern to G for reasons that are both
in the common good and somewhat more selfish reason.
a) In terms of the common good, they are members of society
just like everyone else and deserve the opportunities to enjoy the fruits of a
productive economy. An affluent society "should" be able to provide
for everyone. In addition, social problems that cause personal hardships to
other members of society tend to increase with the personal hardships including
crime, divorce, suicides; and
b) G concern with the personal hardships is more for
selfish reasons. When the voting public is unhappy, they tend to vote against
the incumbent and has a destablising effect from discontentment.
Anecdotes suggest general societal discontentment with regard to job
opportunities, pay, hours of work along with other social aspects that accounts
to the state of joblessness. While the
issue of employment covers all adults 15 years and above, this essay mainly looks
at the employment prospects of Singapore Resident PMET of 45 years and older in
seeking entry into the labour market as a new hire.
Most times the Unemployed will look
first at G for cues to determine their employability and mobility.
Concurrently, the job seeker submits job applications and search job databases for suitable positions against the backdrop of G (MoM) announcements that unemployment in Singapore is very low at 2% and that the market was awash with jobs.
Concurrently, the job seeker submits job applications and search job databases for suitable positions against the backdrop of G (MoM) announcements that unemployment in Singapore is very low at 2% and that the market was awash with jobs.
The process of
consultation with a career coach both at LifeLong Learning Institute (LLI) and
Employment and Employability Institute (e2I) would have begun. It should be noted while LLI and
e2i have well-meaning Career coaches, the efficacy of such consultation has
very limited outcomes. Career Coaches
dispense general advice without specifics and often leaves the job seeker
perplexed on what to do with their life and where to obtain their next stable
income. The popular refrain would be for a job seeker to suss employment prospects from his personal
networks.
Nevertheless, free preparatory
courses are available at LLI and e2i in job interview and resume writing and it
gives a renewed outlook and optimism to the anxious job seeker.
What is Unemployed?
To reiterate, we need to be clear
on what constitutes unemployed before a discussion on joblessness takes place. By definition, the International Labour
Organistation (ILO) states that an Unemployed person is one that is: -
a)
Not working
b)
Actively looking for work
c)
Available for work.
MoM adopted an identical definition
with the ILO which categorises joblessness as shown in Table 1. However it does not distinguish the Unemployed
into sub-categories e.g. first job seekers, etc..:-
a)
Employed: fully employed vs. underemployed, quality of employment
(income, skills utilisation, job security, legal; social protection, etc.)
b)
Unemployed: first job seekers vs. persons with previous work
experience, duration of unemployment, coverage by unemployment insurance, etc.
c)
Not economically active: degree of labour market attachment (e.g.
discouraged workers)
From anecdotes left by the uninformed and ignorant, an unemployed
person is one who is lazy and with no desire to return to the labour market. This belief is unsatisfactory as one broad
stroke has casted a pale on all job seekers and labelled them together with those unwilling
to find meaningful taxable income work.
G themselves does not spend any effort to dispel the misnomer
since it is advantageous to continue to cite unemployment as 2% without the need to elaborate.
However, the category of what constitutes as Employed
should also be scrutinized for it being far too broad to the following extent:
a)
A Master’s graduate (PMET) with many years IT experience seeking
full time employment but working as a taxi driver, security guard or a cleaner
in a hawker centre would be considered gainfully employed.
b)
Ad hoc work totaling 8 hours for the whole year as a casual, part
time basis or by driving Private Hire Car and earning $200 per annum falls
within the Employed category.
Arguably this categorisation should
be considered an aberration since any short-term work to supplement income understates
the underemployment and unemployment figures even if seasonal adjustments were
made.
The employment figures cited are agnostic
of any correlation to age, last drawn salary, present salary, type of jobs,
previous occupation, qualification, and nationality (local or foreigner - PR,
S-Pass, E-Pass, Work Permit), by industrial sector or the period of
unemployment.
In an encompassing tone, a former
MoM minister said good quality jobs would be created since there is sectorial
expansion in Technology and FinTech giving the impression that jobs are awash
and there should be no difficulties with landing one.
However, entry into these sector is
still a steep uphill for older workers of 45 years or older, some of the reasons are
listed below :-
a)
Stereotype older workers as being old-fashioned, less tech savvy,
less committed and stubborn with outdated skillsets;
b)
Insecurity and worry about being out maneuvered and their
inexperience show up glaringly;
c)
Economy is not as rosy as claimed by the G, thus job availability
is limited; and
d)
Foreign workers (including Msian) enjoy a cost competitive advantage
over local workers all else being equal.
To elaborate, employers have inhibition with the physiology of older
workers thereby putting PMET in a quadrangle of being unemployed to driving a
taxi or other menial work to eke a living even if all things being equal.
The irony of this is it shows
adaptability of the worker but the efficacy of WSG schemes of SkillsConnect or
SkillsFuture (Work and Adapt Scheme) in its ability of job placement, talent
management and retention. Additionally, popular media support the promotion of
gig economy/ freelancing, food hawking, venturing into greenfields as alternate career choices.
“Where’s
the pride in a grad selling nasi lemak or driving Uber”, quote from a statesman
While an older worker accepts that getting a job is very
tough, G advertisements gloss over the fact that employers do not want to hire
older workers. In contrast, G propagates that organizations were putting aside
their prejudices and hiring older workers. The high cost of living and
depletion of savings, GST increases and raising the retirement age amid media
reports of job abundance further fuel the wrong impression that only lazy
people are not working. PMETs are then
put in a spot when G weigh in of the lazy notion.
From a G stand point, a rosy
economy will surely land an older worker a job since major initiatives such as
SMART nation will entail resources.
But alas, this is not the case and
one only wonders where high value work has gone to, or has the G been
blindsided by industry on job potentials and the promise of providing good employment
opportunities to locals.
To elaborate, candidate selection process
is at most times narrowed to just seeking complete matches to job descriptions instead
of assessing a candidate ability to perform the job. Hence when an identical match cannot be
found, industry laments the lack of qualified personnel to fill the vacancy creating
the vicious cycle in seeking foreign labour while excluding qualified local
PMET for the vacancy. Such is the
situation leading to a pool of PMET becoming PHV drivers and performing other
menial work as a means to an end.
Observation suggests that G polls industry for job vacancies estimates. When the reported number of vacancies fall short of expectation, MoM approach industry to
raise the number of vacancies. However, industry may or may not revise the number
of vacancies (industry may also not hire according to the declared numbers) and when a shortfall in vacancies persists, MoM will rely on their calculations and apportion the numbers required to support economic growth
estimates.
Based on the arguments as
presented, we believe that being unemployed in Singapore do encounter
stigmatization. Any unemployment rate should not be taken at its face value since the employment figures do not go far enough
to explain the current job situation of older worker employability. Further, G propaganda to appease job seekers
who are over 45-years-old has limited appeal and function.
In addition, Job seekers’ plight is
accentuated by G policy in allowing foreign professionals entry into existing local
industry when there is a ready pool of PMETs seeking work. These very same PMETs have no place to go and will face increasing cost of living issues. As far as we see, G have no sustainable idea on how to manage the existing pool of jobless PMETs.
For the unemployed PMET we offer the following advise:
Take up WSG courses that allow yourself
to be self-employed;
G was singing praises of a Gig economy and how future jobs would be structured along the lines of casual and contracting work;
G was singing praises of a Gig economy and how future jobs would be structured along the lines of casual and contracting work;
Pick up hobbies and exercise to
help with your depressive state and growing frustration. Exercise and hobbies help to keep the mind
alert and active, it keeps the negative thoughts at bay;
Spend carefully, remember to eat to
live and not live to eat, expect periods of long unemployment. Remember calamity may strike anytime during your
unemployment and one medical episode will wipe out your savings. Additionally,
household expenditure will go up due to inflation and GST rate increases.
Prepare to sell Nasi Lemak or Drive
a PHV or other menial transactional type work. Do not be surprised if the career coach asks you
to consider being a cleaner or PHV driver and to source from your own network. He
is being honest and not insulting you. Do not expect G to understand your
problem. G only provides you an avenue
to rant and it ends there.
Millenniums and Startups business
models are mostly in software business, thus unless you have the absolute
matching skills, they will not hire you even as you are prepared to take a
substantial pay cut.
Keep yourself abreast with news and
mix around for friendship and championship and sought their views on topical interest.
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