Singaporean says seeing a worker in her 60s join the office made her realise how brutal the job market has become

SINGAPORE: Some job seekers have described the job market as brutal, leaving them feeling hopeless in their search for work — only for one Singaporean to realise the competition may be even more intense than she expected, as young workers now have to compete with seniors who can’t afford to retire as well.

On r/sgfreelancers, she shared that a new staff member joined the company she works at a week after four of her colleagues resigned on the same day. The role was basically to replace those who left, she added.

At first, she didn’t think much of it, “new colleague, normal”, but to her surprise, the new staff “looked much older” for a role that is “client-facing corporate secretarial work”, which is not exactly the most relaxing job.

“Full white/grey hair, petite, wearing specs, very quiet kind of vibe. In my head, I was like… wait, is she in her 40s? 50s? 60s? In Teams, my colleague like, ‘eh how old do you think she is ah?’ My colleague said she also not sure and didn’t dare to ask during lunch,” she shared.

A few days later, they found out she was in her 60s.

“My colleague told me she accidentally saw her NRIC (National Registration Identity Card) number labelled ‘S1XXXXXX’,” she explained.

The NRIC number, a unique nine-character alphanumeric identification number with the prefix ‘S’, indicates the person is a senior citizen.

“UNBELIEVABLE! We always talk like the job market is young adult vs young adult, but now it feels like we are also competing with the OLDER GENERATION who are coming back into the workforce because retirement is apparently not retirement anymore.… even uncle & auntie also cannot rest,” she said.

She also added that her colleague speculated that the company may have hired an older worker to qualify for government support, which left her feeling that employers were increasingly prioritising “cost-effective hiring”. Although to her, it felt like  “everyone is fighting for the same seat on a bus that’s already full.”

“Honestly, I don’t even blame the new staff. She’s probably just trying to survive too. Maybe she still has bills, family, rent, medical stuff, who knows, but it made me feel d*mn sian. Now I’m thinking… Compete for 40 years, then come back and compete again?!”

Asking others, “Anyone else seeing more older workers returning to office jobs lately?”

Commenters shared that perhaps older Singaporeans simply don’t have the ability to retire.

One said, “Many older generation thought it was an enough sum to retire back then, they did not account for GST to go up twice and the economy to raise prices anytime they like.”

Another added, “In fact, the amount of monthly retirement funds is not sufficient for daily use despite they don’t spend much.”

Unfortunately, stories of older Singaporeans working beyond retirement age are not unique. Earlier in June, a young man revealed that both his parents, who are in their 60s, continue to work because their savings are limited. Last year, a toilet cleaner in his 90s who worked 12 hours a day also went viral, sparking conversation over whether his story was inspiring, health-wise, or depressing. /TISG

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