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SINGAPORE: Amid Singapore’s push for more seniors to remain in employment, employers have found that the lack of flexible work options as well as the know-how to train seniors for flexible roles is challenging, <\/strong>Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon said on Thursday (Apr 23).<\/p>\n To that end, there is a need for more companies to play an “active role” in finding innovative ways to help their older staff remain employed, he said.<\/p>\n “We hope that companies who are prepared to do so will show the way and allow us to … share with more companies,” said Dr Koh. “Through our policy support to companies’ innovation from the ground up, I think we can scale this in a wider way.”<\/p>\n Dr Koh, who co-chairs a tripartite workgroup aimed at enabling more seniors to keep working if they want to, was speaking to the media during a tour of bus operator Tower Transit’s facilities at Bulim Bus Depot.<\/p>\n During the visit, Dr Koh and other members from the workgroup were introduced to various trials by Tower Transit, such as a pilot of three career pathways for bus captains above 60 to take on less physically demanding tasks while retaining their operational experience and abilities to make safety-related judgment calls.<\/p>\n Dr Koh said the tripartite workgroup hoped such innovations from companies could help to solve the issues that employers have raised.<\/p>\n “As the government, we can create policies and incentives. But because there are many diverse work roles and different industry sectors, companies need to play a very active role to see how they can make things work within their own individual company’s business model, but also within the sector itself,” he said.<\/p>\n Singapore is projected to reach super-aged status this year, when more than 21 per cent of the population is aged 65 and above.<\/p>\n Senior workers are still able to make significant contributions to the economy, and are wanted given Singapore’s constrained labour force, said Dr Koh.<\/p>\n Many senior workers also want to continue working to earn an income and maintain their social circle at work, he said.<\/p>\n “And from the medical perspective, we know that once a person stops working, both physical and cognitive decline set in rather quickly,” added Dr Koh.<\/p>\n More than 30 companies have partnered with the tripartite workgroup to trial ways of redesigning careers for workers at different stages of life. Where feasible, these prototypes will be scaled across different sectors, the workgroup has said.<\/p>\n National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan, who was also present on the tour, said the objective of the workgroup’s efforts is to give workers more options for employment, as well as more flexibility and dignity at work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n