Retrenched in their 50s: The long road back to work for older workers

The Workplace Fairness Act, which takes effect in 2027, lists age as a protected characteristic. Concerns have already been raised in parliament about the difficulty of proving that an employer’s adverse decision was due to discrimination.

Mr Choo’s advice to older jobseekers: “Don’t look for a job, look for work.”

If interviews are not producing full-time offers, candidates could make more headway by identifying specific problems that need solving in a company and offering their services on a part-time basis first, he said.

These form the building blocks of “portfolio careers”, an option he commonly suggests to mature workers. Portfolio careers generate multiple streams of income from several different projects or part-time jobs, rather than one full-time position.

He acknowledged the switch is not easy. Introverted workers may find it hard to market their skills this way, and those with more generic skills may struggle to meet businesses’ specific needs. Not every worker can reach “full capacity”, where earnings from different projects add up to full-time pay, he said.

For Mr Lee, the former packaging firm director, it took a mindset shift and a long time to come round to the idea of a portfolio career.

But once he committed, fellow jobseekers and his coach felt he became “a different person”, he said. “I’m more extroverted. I’m able to present in a much more positive way, much more confident.”

In October, he facilitated his first AI hands-on training session with fellow jobseekers from The Courage Chapter, a social enterprise that champions inclusive employment for older professionals.

It brought him joy when participants got excited about applying what they learnt, he said. “At least you achieve something and you help out with something.”