Singapore employers are more keen than businesses in other countries, including developed countries like Switzerland, Sweden or the United States in hiring senior workers.

A poll of 28,000 employers in 25 countries and cities carried out by US employment agency, Manpower Inc, showed that only 14 per cent had plans to hire people aged 50 or over, and only 21 per cent had actively taken steps to retain their mature employees.

In Singapore, 53 per cent of the employers polled by Manpower have retention plans for oldes workers, while 48 per cent actively sought to recruit them, according a report in The Business Times today on the survey.

By contrast, under 10 per cent of Swedish employers polled said they had any policy at all about hiring or retaining older workers.

Sweden is often seen as a country of progressive practices, but it is the most backward in terms of providing employment for an ageing population.

The poll also found that companies' retention strategies for older workers are more common than hiring schemes for older employees.

However, the gap between the two issues is widest in Japan, a country grappling with a rapidly ageing population. More than four in five companies have come up with strategies to keep ageing staff, but only just 10 per cent of the companies have taken steps to hiring such workers.

Among Asian countries, Taiwanese employers seem to be the least interested in employing older workers, even behind China and india.

Like in Japan, Singapore's greater concern for older workers is an early awakening to the demographic trend - and its impact on business.

The Business Times quoted Ms Rosa Goh, director and country manager for Manpower here, as saying: "In Singapore, about one-fifth of our workforce today is 50 and above.

"In 10 years' time, that proportion will rise to about one-third. Employers can no longer ignore the demographic forecasts and evidence of growing talent shortages. The risk of negative impact on productivity and company knowledge-base is so great that employers may not be able to avoid it, unless they take proactive measures to engage older workers."

The lead taken by the Singapore government has also played a big role.

Incentive programmes such as Advantage!, encourage employers to hire workers over the age of 40, or re-employ those beyond age 62.

The programme offers redesign financing, training grants, job placement services and re-employment support. It can save employers up to $300,000.

But Ms Goh says that even though Singapore is ahead in tackling the job issue for older workers, many companies here are still not paying enough attention to the way in which a big chunk of their workforce will retire in the next five to 10 years - and productivity and intellectual capital that could be lost when these people depart.

"If employers don't act soon, they will fail to win the war for talent as older workers will be relied upon as one of the most important sources of talent for the future workforce," she warns.

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