Singapore: Great country for old men

Work may be a little harder to come by in the global recession, but it seems that older workers are having an easier time than their younger counterparts.

According to a labour survey recently carried out by the Ministry of Manpower,the proportion of residents aged 25 to 64 in employment fell for the first time in six years to 75.8% this June, as compared to last year’s 77.0% a year ago.

However, the employment rate of older residents aged 55 to 64 remained at the peak number of 57.2%, as reached in 2008. In fact, the rate of employment for older men increased from 73.8% in 2008 to a new high of 74.7% in 2009. The rate for older men in Singapore was also one of the highest internationally.

The good news did not translate well across both genders, however, as the increase in employment for older men was offset by the slight decrease for older women from 40.5% to 40.1%.

The trend is the same in other countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, as employment rates for women generally lagged those in developed countries

Rise in employment may not necessarily indicate stability for the job market, however. Figures show a rise in term contract employment, mostly driven by those on short term contracts, as employers seek greater flexibility to manage manpower in tough times. The number of resident employees on term contracts rose by 4.3% to 197,200 in 2009, faster than the 0.8% increase in permanent employees. Consequently, the share of resident employees on term contracts rose from 12.4% in 2008 to 12.7% in2009.

Growth in 2009 was mainly driven by those on short-term contracts of less than
three months (including casual/on-call workers), reflecting the economic uncertainty.

As a result of the weak economy, growth in income from work was largely flat in 2009, following strong gains in the preceding two years.

The median monthly income among full-timers rose slightly by 0.5% from $2,590 in June 2008 to $2,600 in June 2009, compared to gains of 11% in 2008 and 7.7% in 2007. Part-timers also posted higher median income of $620 compared with $600 a year ago. However, the median income for all employed residents dipped by 1.2% from $2,450 in 2008 to $2,420 in 2009, as part-timers’ share of employment rose.

In June 2009, there were 5.9% or 116,300 persons (non-seasonally adjusted) in the resident labour force who were unemployed in June 2009, significantly higher than 4.0% or 76,200 a year ago. The rise was the same throughout all occupations and industries.

The unemployment rate increased over the year from 4.3% to 7.1% for production & related workers; sharper than the increase from 5.8% to 7.6% for clerical, sales & service workers; and 2.5% to 3.9% for professionals, managers, executives & technicians. Reflecting their higher incidence of layoffs, manufacturing saw a larger increase over the year in unemployment rate (from 3.8% to 6.4%) than construction (from 2.8% to 4.1%) and services (from 3.6% to 5.3%)