Chapter 5: Results
5.4 Main Themes
5.4.1 Systemic inequities
The data analysis revealed that the older workers in Singapore faced systemic challenges and encountered ageism in different forms and contexts. One of the first themes developed from the data analysis was ageist attitudes experienced by older workers in different contexts. These have been organised into four categories: human resource policies, work contexts, government policies, and contextual barriers.
5.4.1.1 Ageism in human resource policies
Ten of the older workers experienced challenges at the workplace due to ageist attitudes. Older Worker 8 explained the challenge ‘is not really about Covid-19. If they are not in a job already, it is very difficult for them to get a job’. Older Worker 20 similarly shared her challenging experience of applying for work and attributed this challenge to ageist assumptions: ‘applied for service ambassador position, three times. I like the job because I enjoy meeting people but I did not get it. Maybe because of my age’.
A common aspect of ageist attitudes in human resource policies and the recruitment process was misleading assumptions about older workers. When asked about the ageism in the workforce, Older Worker 19 reflected and responded ‘because they think that- because of my age and my experience in a particular area for 42 years, I will never be able to change my style of thinking; that’s number one’. Older Worker 17 lamented that ‘they [organisation]
don’t see it that way. When it’s time for re-employment, they do not extend the contract’. This was confirmed by Older Worker 11 when she explained that ‘especially in middle management, they do have this thing about older people. Like, even the older person who really works well. And it’s very hard for me to get over this barrier’.
In Focus Group Session 8, Older Worker 14 highlighted a core aspect about the workforce that has to be changed and the problems associated with older workers not having employment:
If these older workers are not employable, it means someone else has to support them. We end up having a deficit in the workforce. A deficit means they need to get foreign professionals. And that also creates some kind of discomfort. We need to change the employers’ mindset.
Five of the adult educators interviewed reflected and shared that older workers faced many challenges seeking work and getting promoted even if they are in employment. Adult Educator 1, who has worked in human resources, explained:
Being in HR [human resources] for a while, we tend to be a bit ageist. We are looking at people who are so much younger. And young people [in HR] have this certain misperception that the older workers are slow and stubborn.
Adult Educator 2 added that this could be attributed to unfounded assumptions:
Young friends in HR actually told me when they review resumes of people who are above 40, they put it to the side. At 40, normally they earn more, and are looking for higher salary, and are sometimes stubborn. I say, that’s not true.
However, Adult Educator 4 highlighted the plight of older workers in Singapore and argued:
In many areas we have contributed. So why are we being, sidelined.? Why do we doubt the old people that we cannot perform, although the fact that we’ve been performing for the past few years?
Further, Adult Educator 8 sought to explain the reasons why ageist attitude persists in
recruitment, and suggested it is about the return on investments (ROI) and perceiving workers only as a commodity:
A normal company would look at ROI. Now if I were to invest in this person, and in a few years’ time he isn’t in the company anymore, how much would I get from this person?
She reasoned that the ageist attitudes in organisations to human resource policies were based on economic practicality prioritising ROI:
Today HR is not about personnel development but about strategically moving with the company. But many companies want quick returns—it’s very difficult as they [older workers] need some sort of time for them to build up their resilience in the new environment. (Adult Educator 8).
Adult Educator 1 attributed the ageist attitudes to biased hiring cultures in Singapore when asked about human resource policies. She admitted that ageist attitudes are prevalent in human resource policies in Singapore: ‘HR tend to be a bit ageist. We are looking at HR who
are so much younger and young people have this certain perception saying that older workers are slow and stubborn difficult to teach’ (Adult Educator 1). Adult Educator 7 explained the changes in human resource policies that have exacerbated ageism in recruitment:
But the things have shifted already, but then in the old days, you want to hire someone younger versus someone older, because you think that the person can contribute longer period, you can develop the person for a longer period. But now our context has changed with all this disruption, HR no longer look at loyalty as an asset anymore. Loyalty is actually now a liability.
Employer 3 revealed an observation about why ageist recruitment policies persist in many organisations in Singapore:
The HR people now are very young people. So you can imagine, the perception of the older people are that they are slower, they are not willing to learn, they have a very fixed mindset and they are not equipped with the current trend then there is this barrier for them to even consider the older workers.
Employer 2 confirmed this experience:
One of the main concerns is always, their age. It is not so much of the experience.
Mostly say that, when they apply for jobs, they have to fill up application forms, they go for interviews, their vibe is that they [the organisations] do not want older workers. And when I ask them why because they always feel, the minute they mention their age, somehow, they do not get any positive response. But when they do not mention it, they can be shortlisted.
Conversely, Adult Educator 10 suggested that one factor in recruiters’ reluctance to employ older workers could be the high salaries of older workers:
They started off with a much lower salary, worked up the ladder, getting a much better pay, but, when they go to another company, they are competing with the younger ones and even other matured workers. The company might not want to offer them the salary that they have currently.
Older Worker 7 reflected on this challenge faced by older workers, organisations and a country with a rapidly growing aging population and explained:
I think, to be fair to the organisation, it is about the bottom line, ROI. They need to raise their own funds. Because Singapore, aging population is growing at a very fast, rapid pace, you know? Very difficult!
However, Industry Expert 4 argued:
I think at the end of the day, a lot of companies, look at their bottom line, if they can get a younger person to actually do the job of what a higher paid older worker is doing, then they might prefer to have younger. And what we do to
mitigate this is to incentivise to make it more competitive and attractive for the company to continue hiring these older workers.
This section has shown how ageism in recruitment policies and misleading assumptions hamper older workers’ employment opportunities and provides suggestions to address this deficit in Singapore’s workforce. The next section discusses how ageism exists in workplaces in Singapore and restricts older workers from flourishing.
5.4.1.2 Ageism in work contexts
In relation to work contexts, six older workers shared how they experienced ageism in different workplace contexts:
That’s how they look at us, older folks. It’s the decisions they make. They think that you—when you grow older—they’re not going to retain you. They can employ the younger ones. (Older Worker 17)
The organisation itself where the worker is may give you some form of excuse you know to get you out of that job and replace with a younger one. So, if the government can think of certain safeguard, although they set the policy but the organisation can find a loophole to kick them out [the older workers]. (Older Worker 5)
Older Worker 11 added that most human resource departments would claim that ‘for older workers there’s nothing to safeguard them you know because they are very vulnerable. The common excuse, “This person cannot perform to the nature of the job”, which he believes is merely an excuse to get rid of the older worker.
During Focus Group Session 1, Adult Educator 1 observed that the ‘elderly may encounter problems using technology to communicate and complete their work’. However, to her surprise, the older workers were ‘able to figure their way out due to their excellent communication skills’. Industry Expert 5 agreed with this observation:
Because they are elderly, in workplaces but there’s always the challenge of under- you know, knowing how to use technology in order to communicate. But surprisingly, I find that many of the participants in the senior category had no issues. Because they have good communication skills already.
Adult Educator 10 confirmed the observation that older workers might struggle with digital technology, but if taught in the right way, they would be able to use such technology in workplaces:
The things that I see at the workplace is that young people are fast. They are good with IT. They said they “[older workers] are so slow. I teach them today, tomorrow they forgot.” The older workers are frustrated because they are not taught properly.
Older Worker 6 complained that the younger workers ‘are arrogant and are used to being spoon fed’. He claimed that this attitude has led to conflict at the workplace. However,
‘older workers had to work their way up and get very upset when their experience is disrespected’ (Older Worker 6). Yet, Adult Educator 5 argued:
I think it’s not treating older workers fairly, because they have a wealth of experience. But let’s say the company still recognise uh… the number of years they have put in and the experience that they have and not cutting the pay is pleasurable for them. They would want to be part of that team and contribute as much as possible, because now the company still recognise my effort over the years.
Due to misleading assumptions, ageism in workplaces can hamper employment opportunities for older workers and diminish their chances to flourish. The next section discusses how ageism in Singapore’s government policies can weaken older workers flourishing.
5.4.1.3 Ageism in government policies
During the first focus group session, when asked about the primary challenge plaguing older workers, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, Older Worker 9 highlighted:
That’s the main question. Because the fear is I’ve been applying but you know, it’s all negative. Even after I went through interviews, I can’t get any job because of my age. I can take up so many courses but if there’s no job, I still have to pay my bills.
In the same session, Older Worker 3 foregrounded the added complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic for older workers to get gainful employment:
The pandemic has complicated matters for older workers. Before COVID-19, they faced difficulty in getting work and some of them were encouraged to make way
for younger workers. With the pandemic, businesses suffered and many organisations have retrenched their workers while several went out of business.
Older workers are the first to be asked to leave during retrenchment.
However, Industry Expert 2 rationalised that to manage this challenge at a national level is very complicated:
We look at how we can optimise older people’s functioning in healthcare because a lot of the complaints from employer are based on health challenges. But it does not make sense after you cross 60 years old, all of a sudden, your productivity drops. I think the age marker does not make sense. However, there are definitely declines from a human physiological perspective. The question is how do we manage that properly.
Similarly, Adult Educator 3 shared his concerns about older workers being forced into jobs they are ill-prepared for simply to gain some form of employment:
That it is very important to be able to identify things that the older folk like. Now the government, say that, all older workers have to go and learn about IT skills, the coding, the analytics, these are the in-thing now, the sunrise jobs. They are forcing these older workers to go into these types of jobs now, is it fair?
When asked about ageism inherent in policies, Adult Educator 8 responded:
I would say it’s unfortunate that HR people are generally very young and they do not see that value [in older workers]. They want instant value or profit to generate so it’s not straightforward.
Conversely, Adult Educator 4 claimed the government might not fully comprehend the challenges and complexities on the ground regarding older workers, rendering the policies ineffective:
They are looking at numbers, plugging in numbers. Are they on the ground?
Because if they are, I don’t think they are really coordinated. So those of us who have actually been through all this hardship right as much as we love the country, there's this very uneasy feeling that the government don’t know what is going on really on the ground.
Industry Expert 4 suggested that a combination of policies would be necessary to mitigate the challenges of ageism:
I think mindset change is the hardest and the slowest. We cannot rely simply on mindset change to get companies to offer employment opportunity to older workers. It has to be a combination of policies.
There also appeared to be confusion and inherent ageism within the government’s policy on retirement. Older Worker 16 noted the ageism that exists in the application of this policy:
It’s different from what the policy says. Cause the government say as long as you’re healthy, we offer you a job. But later, they give excuses that there’s no more posts for you. They cover it up by offering to give you courses, you go networking, you can go find other jobs. But this is not same as what the policy is about.
He further explained that the confusion was due to misapplication and interpretation of government policies and suggested a solution for this problem: ‘If they stick to the policy and don’t give excuses. Follow through, use clear guidelines, then they won’t have all these lapses. Everyone will have a job.’ (Older Worker 16). Older Worker 16 went on to describe the consequences of ageism in this policy implementation:
The government policy may say one thing, they may enforce something to follow, but what the employer do is totally different. They don’t give you opportunity to work until 62 years old, but the actual fact is that when you nearly reach the retirement age, they don’t really encourage you to go ahead. The older workers have all these experience and connection, the younger ones don’t have it. The older worker will say since I’m going to retire and they don’t treasure me, it’s not worth it to share my experience with the younger ones.
Adult Educator 1 shared ageist mindsets she observed in younger workers:
Young people have no patience, to teach. So likewise at the workplace, if you have a co-worker who is young, they may not tolerate the older workers. Because it’s all mindset! Because a lot of older workers, they don’t have a degree. They rise through the rank. Unfair for older workers. Their experience is not respected.
Adult Educator 7 commented on the incoherence between government policies in skills upgrading for older workers and employment opportunities:
There is a part about the older workers themselves, you know, which I believe is not a skills gap ah. Although, the government is doing a lot, there is a skills mismatch. I have known people who come for programs and they show me all the WSQ certificates from different subject areas, they just do nothing but collect all these certifications, hoping they will find a job.
Older Worker 17 felt it was better and safer for older workers to be around to ensure that work processes are done correctly while the younger workers take over the helm:
Mistakes will occur with the younger worker when they take over. When the young staff takes over, there will be a lot of problems faced. If the older worker were to remain, it limits all these problems.
Besides the ageism within work contexts and government policies, other forms of ageism act as barriers, reducing opportunities for older workers and hampering their chances of flourishing in their lives and at work. These are presented in the next section.
5.4.1.4 Ageism and contextual barriers
Eight of the adult educators and industry experts and three older workers mentioned having experienced challenges because of ageist attitudes related to factors outside the workplace. These include the unique work culture in Singapore and factors outside the workforce, such as familial support and a communication gap between older and younger generations.
When asked about older workers having support from their family members, Adult Educator 6, who conducts financial literacy training, shared his observations about the lack of support from older workers’ family members due to ageist assumptions:
They want to submit the resume online and I suggested that get your children to teach you. They replied that the children mentioned that ‘I am slow, don’t want to teach me!’ Even children have less patience with them.
Adult Educator 8 suggested reasons why older workers are reluctant to ask their family members for help: ‘They don’t ask the children at home or the younger people to teach them.
because don’t want to get a scolding for not knowing or for picking things up slowly.’ Adult Educator 6 attributed this to the younger generation not being good at sharing new ideas and working in a team. He explained: ‘In terms of working style, the older generation they always tell me that the millennials are vocal and have good ideas, but sometime not so willing share’
(Adult Educator 6).
Echoing this concern, Adult Educator 2 attributed the conflict to miscommunication, and the younger generation’s misguided perceptions of older workers:
I have asked some of the younger people who came to the class. They said that the older people are being stubborn, not that they themselves are impatient. One
party feels that you should be more patient with me and then the other feel that actually it’s the older workers who are stubborn.
Adult Educator 5 clarified that although the younger generation may be digital natives, they might not be able to translate their digital savviness into effective workplace processes:
The younger generation can be misleading because they are savvy as they are digital natives but in terms of the workplace, whether they know how to use this to enhance their work maybe, may not is not there. They may not know how to use some functions to help them with their work.
Industry Expert 1 raised the challenges inherent within Singapore’s workforce system and traditional work hours, which may work against older workers:
That means you have a job which now can be done by two people including older workers. If you do job sharing, for the perspective of the human resource department, they’re going to deal with more people. When you look at productivity models, humans are only productive about six hours of the day which would be practical for older workers.
In Focus Group Session 2, Older Worker 13 shared the challenges older workers faced regarding the stigma associated with menial jobs and how these jobs are often taken up by foreign workers for very low wages:
People are respected for their profession [in Australia]. And you see, they have no age discrimination. You have older workers working in Australia in all these jobs, technicians, plumbers and what. We have passed on these jobs [in Singapore]. Our shipyards used to have welders; various technicians were all apprenticeships. They were all trained from young and were very well paid. Now those jobs have all gone. I think Participant 3 brought up a good point, if you compare salaries, if you pay $900 to a Singaporean to work in a shipyard, he can’t feed his family.
Industry Expert 3 explained the work culture in many organisations in Singapore:
From my industrial organisation experience, normally companies who are doing very badly, younger workers and older workers have stayed for a long time. Their turnover rate is not too high or too low. This cultural change of older workers as being poor workers is false because everyone starts of young and then they become old. It cannot be everyone turns bad right? It is about the work culture and renewal.
Adult Educator 4 elaborated on the work culture in Singapore:
The work culture is always pushing, I will use the local term that is ‘kiasi’ [local vernacular meaning afraid to die]. We scared to die, so we push ourselves very hard, we started to build stuff and all that. We are always constantly reminded