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Create rules for level playing field in hiring

It was interesting to read the letter “Bias against older workers: Be realistic about competition” (June 12). I want to address a few points.

We need to ensure that those who need to work over the age of 55 can find gainful employment without being discriminated against, so that they can live with dignity and earn their own keep. Photo: Thinkstock

We need to ensure that those who need to work over the age of 55 can find gainful employment without being discriminated against, so that they can live with dignity and earn their own keep. Photo: Thinkstock

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It was interesting to read the letter “Bias against older workers: Be realistic about competition” (June 12). I want to address a few points.

If market forces alone dictated competition for jobs, we would be overrun with foreigners. Markets work within rules that are defined by the government of the day. I doubt that we can protect anyone, young or old, in the dynamic market economy we have in Singapore. The objective, however, is to ensure we create rules that ensure a level playing field.

Part of this means making sure age discrimination is not tolerated. We need to ensure that those who need to work over the age of 55 can find gainful employment without being discriminated against, so that they can live with dignity and earn their own keep.

There are several reasons Japan experienced a lost decade. Beyond policy mismanagement and structural impediments, a key reason was a huge surplus in savings.

This is largely psychological; the less we feel confident of finding a decent paying job in the future, the more we tend to save what we have today. This reduces consumption, and the downward spiral continues.

Today, we have several interests in contest with one another: Businesses seeking professionals, managers, executives and technicians at lower wages to boost their profits, young graduates seeking not only better-paying jobs but work-life balance too, and the silver generation of experienced workers whose expectations need to be managed.

Trade-offs are necessary. Older workers may need to have their jobs redesigned, and wages reduced in line with the economic reality.

This, however, does not mean just culling older workers to make way for younger ones.

As a country, we must put in place a system where those who are able and willing to work are not denied entry because of discrimination against such markers as age or gender. Markets do not discriminate, people do. As such, the National Jobs Bank seems unable to address this gap and needs tweaking.

Also, Singapore is where it is because of its political stability, safety, geography and the educational standing of its citizens, among other factors. The argument that businesses will move operations out of Singapore just to access cheap labour does not reflect the full picture where our standing in the global economy is concerned.

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