At 61, Zailani Said has his fair share of concerns about the remaining years of his career with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO).
The spirited individual is just under two years from the statutory retirement age and worries about his prospects of being re-employed until he is 68.
Despite sustaining an injury to his leg a couple of years ago, he believes he still has many more productive years left in him beyond the current stipulated re-employment age.
“I think that the Government and the unions should come together to look into the issue,” he said.
Mr Zailani was one of the 60 participants at the latest #EveryWorkerMatters Conversations event on 17 September 2022 at Kallang Community Club.
The discussions focused on the concerns of workers aged 40 and above. Beyond re-employment, other topics covered during the discussion included retirement adequacy and lifelong employability.
NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Heng Chee How hosted the event.
During his opening speech, Mr Heng said that Singapore and the world are changing and that Singaporeans cannot assume that the practices and policies in place over the last 30 years will continue to work.
“For different groupings of workers, their experiences will all be different. But they are all valid and important, and we need to know what these needs are so we can plan forward together,” he said.
Mr Heng summarised the concerns broadly under four categories – resilience, relevance, readjusting mindsets and readjusting policies.
He said that work was needed to ensure that older workers can be resilient enough to bounce back from hardships. He also noted that older workers wanted to stay relevant but needed assurance that their training efforts would bear fruit.
Mr Heng also said that policies and workplace practices need to evolve, and society needs to rethink its outlook on age as it is just a number.
He said: “A number in itself cannot fully define a person. So we want to look at individuals, see their strengths and weaknesses, and maximise their strengths, not just work on broad numbers.”
The conversations are part of NTUC’s strategy to better understand workers’ concerns, priorities and aspirations, regardless of their life stages and socio-economic statuses.
The conversations will take on a variety of formats, including dialogues, focus group discussions and surveys.
Through the conversations, NTUC will study the support needed to help workers succeed in their careers, the different assurances that workers need at different stages of their careers, and the required protections for more vulnerable workers.
In the meantime, to ensure that he has something to fall back on, Mr Zailani has attended food preparation courses and may consider delving into his own home-based business should he find himself unemployed in the near future.
“Physically, if I am able to work, I will. I cannot just rely on support and assistance,” he said.
More details about the #EveryWorkerMatters Conversations can be found at conversations.ntuc.sg.
