Malaysia: Research Finds Older Workers are Competent, Performing Well and Are Trainable

In an article published in Employee Relations, Junaidah Hashim and Saodah Wok, both from the International Islamic University Malaysia, report on their investigation of the competence, performance and trainability of older workers of higher educational institutions in Malaysia. According to "Competence, Performance and Trainability of Older Workers of Higher Educational Institutions in Malaysia," based on the assessments made by the older workers themselves and their superiors, older workers are competent, performing well and are trainable. However, the administrative older staff were rated lower by the superior as compared to the academic older staff.

The authors suggest that "the study provides valuable insights into considering of revising the retirement age of academician in higher education sector even higher. Age seems to be an advantage to this group of employees."

Source: Employee Relations Journal Abstract (2013)

Malaysia: Support for Impending Changes in Retirement Age

A series of articles in the Star Online discuss impending changes to raise the retirement age in Malaysia from 55 to 60. According to the reports, the goverment intends to officially set the private sector's retirement age at 60, following proposals to raise the civil service retirement age to 60 from 58 last October. "[T]he Private Sector Retirement Age Bill will be tabled in parliament soon, with provisos to allow those who reach 60 to renew up to 64 and may contain a clause allowing people to retire earlier."

Support for such changes was found a survey conducted by JobStreet.com in which some 84% of surveyed job seekers aged between 18 and 41 agreed with the retirement age extension because they felt they needed to work till they are older to get higher retirement savings due to the increase in life expectancy.

Various Malaysians quoted in the articles also support the changes:

AS Malaysia moves towards being an ageing society by 2030, with 15% of the population aged 60 and above, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan says there will be a need to “properly manage and utilise the older employees”

Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management honorary general secretary J. Aresandiran says that with the local economy on a steady growth trajectory, the country cannot risk “too many people retiring”.

...

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations president Datuk N. Marimuthu says with many Malaysians today marrying at a later age, it is necessary to increase the retirement age.

“Many people marry and have children late in their lives. When they retire, their children are still young and they still need money to finance their children,” he says, adding that increasing the retirement age to 60 years is “practical”.

However, resistance to the changes is also noted:

Human resource experts cite issues of efficiency and productivity as reasons why employers are objecting to the higher retirement age. Kelly Services managing director for Singapore and Malaysia Melissa Norman says it is undeniable that the current rigidity in terminating staff in Malaysia is a critical factor that prevents most employers from agreeing to the proposed retirement bill.

Sources: The Star Online"Pushing back the retirement age" (March 17, 2012); The Star Online "Prospects for retirees" (March 17, 2012); The Star Online "Malaysia needs flexible labour laws" (March 17, 2012)

Malaysia: Older Workers Less Confident about Future; Government Encourages Retraining

While a large majority of Malaysians feel safe in their present jobs, confidence declines with age. According to a Gallup International Association poll, 84% of Malaysians were optimistic about their job security with only Norway (85%) scoring higher in a survey of 61 countries. However, only two in 10 respondents over 51 years old thought they could find a job fairly quickly compared to four out of 10 of those below 30 years.

In response to the Gallup survey, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Fong Chan Onn said that employers need to continuously retrain their workers to keep them relevant, especially the older ones who are set in their ways. Fong suggests that this can help them to adapt to technological and work habit changes. According to a story by Teresa Yong in THe New Straits Times, Fong said: "It is very important for employers to continue retraining and upgrading the expertise of the older group of workers. We also need to re-orientate all categories of workers." Fong also advised older workers to adopt lifelong learning and pointed out that the Human Resources Development Bhd had training programmes for workers of all ages.

Sources: Malaysia Today "Malaysians score high in survey" (January 15, 2008); The New Straits Times "Keep older workers relevant through retraining, employers told" (January 16, 2008)

Malaysia: Workers Choosing To Delay Retirement

According to an article by Chan Ching Thut in The Star, "more Malaysians are planning to retire later than at age 55, with the main reasons cited for the delay being higher pay while working, enhanced retirement benefits, and new and challenging responsibilities." This is the result of a pulse survey conducted in May 2006 by Accenture.

Accenture partner and human performance senior executive Joan Hoi said "One-third of Malaysian workers interviewed have changed their plans for retirement within the past five years."

Separately, Hoi noted that a significant finding from their Aging Workforce survey was on the management of the knowledge assets of a company: Globally, one quarter of employers surveyed revealed that their organisations would allow older workers to retire without any transfer of knowledge, and in Malaysia, 48% cited “small, informal discussions” or “1 to 2 weeks' process” as the methods used by organisations before employees retire, while 15% said their organisations would let them go without any transfer of knowledge.

Source: The Star "More Malaysians choose to delay retirement" (August 7, 2006)