1. Employment and volunteering opportunities for older adults
Thelma Kay
ACHA , Kuching , Malaysia , October 2017

2. Population indicators

3. Why employability ? Increased longevity
Inadequate financial security, especially low-income workers
Low unemployment (2% in 2012), availability of job opportunities, tightened foreign labour inflow
Low educational levels of current cohorts of older persons

4. Measures to enhance employability of older workers
Enabling legal/regulatory/institutional framework
-Re-employment Legislation Re-employment rate raised from 65-67
-Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practice (TAFEP)
Enhancing opportunities
-Employers (grants, training programmes)
-Work placement schemes
-Technology/innovation in work environment
- Age friendly workplace

5. Measures to enhance employability/productivity of older workers
Employability capacity building (skills upgrading/work training/retraining
-Singapore Workforce Development Agency(WDA)- Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ)
- Subsidy for skills upgrading/work training/retraining
- Continuing Education and Training(CET) infrastructure
- Professionals Conversion Programme
- Career pathways/ladder

6. Senior Volunteerism Volunteerism promoted to mobilize seniors:
-eliminate ageist attitudes, show that seniors can contribute
-re-image types of engagement (as seniors more educated, healthier, financially secure especially “young old”)
-benefit from the positive effects of volunteerism
Under Singapore’s Action Plan for Successful Ageing:
-Silver Volunteer Fund (target size Sin$40 million- from donations with government matching funds) to help community organizations better recruit and develop senior volunteers
-NVPC encourage businesses to rally older employees to be involved in volunteerism
-NVPC launched Giving.sg portal to help locate volunttering opportunities

7. Senior Volunteerism in Singapore
Individual Giving Survey 2016 of National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre :
Volunteerism rate has increased from 9% in 2000 to 35 per cent in 2016
51 % served informally ( without going through any organization) compared with 25 % in 2014
Most volunteers (64%) serve on an occasional basis

8. Senior Volunteerism in Singapore (cont’d)
Volunteerism rate has increased across all demographic groups
However, those over 55 years and above have the highest proportion of non-volunteers compared to other age groups
Volunteers get involved together with friends (41%) and colleagues (29%)
Highest proportion of volunteering is for human services (e.g befriending, mentoring)
Increasing proportion volunteering for green efforts, animal care and arts/heritage activities

9. Volunteerism in Asia
Thailand - village health volunteers , elderly care volunteers
Indonesia - gotong royong
Time banks - Japan, China etc. Volunteers pay forward
HelpAge community-based old people’s associations (OPA), intergenerational self-help groups in Vietnam, Myanmar , Cambodia etc.

10. Conclusion
In countries with labour shortage or with potential old age support challenges, there is scope for increasing the labour force partcipation of older adults
Measures have to be taken to enable employability
With increased life expectancy, there will also be scope for older adults to contribute to society and be a resource through volunteerism.
This can be enhanced by efforts to recruit and retain volunteers

11. THANK YOU