ALTHOUGH employers are hungry for workers, many seem oblivious of the ready supply from two groups: women and older people.

On Friday, they were told to turn their sights on these people and do more to coax them back to work.

The call came from one of their own: Mr Stephen Lee, chairman of the Singapore Business Federation and president of the Singapore National Employers Federation.

It was made in his May Day message, ahead of Labour Day next Thursday.

Mr Lee noted that there are 288,600 people aged 25 to 54 who are neither working nor seeking jobs.

'We must do more to encourage these Singaporeans to re-enter the workforce to help meet the manpower needs of industries,' he said.

The robust Singapore economy has created a bumper crop of jobs and, in turn, reduced the jobless rate to a 10-year low of 2.1 per cent last year.

But the proportion of people employed or looking for work is unusually low here compared to other developed nations. Singapore's labour force participation rate was 65.1 per cent last year compared to Japan's 79.3 per cent.

But some progress has been made in hiring older workers.

Mr Lee noted that the employment rate of workers aged 55 to 64 rose from 53.7 per cent in 2006 to 56.2 per cent last year.

But it is still some way off the target of 65 per cent.

As for women, Mr Lee lauded efforts to get more of them back to work, which would help boost the rate beyond last year's 51.9 per cent.

Another undertaking that cheers Mr Lee is a pledge by more than 700 companies to be fair employers and hire workers based on merit 'so that older workers are given a fair chance for employment'.

Employers such as Mr Freddy Tan, 55, chairman of VS Aircraft Interior Maintenance, see value in hiring older workers. Among his 30 staff members, about 60 per cent are 50 years or older; half of them are women.

Said Mr Tan: 'We prefer to hire older workers as they are more responsible.'

Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, in his first May Day message, dwelt on the importance of keeping strong ties among unions, employers and the Government.

This tripartite bond is critical for Singapore to achieve sustained economic growth, he said.

He also credited the labour movement with the success of many national initiatives, such as the hiring of older workers. It does so by helping to shape policies that meet the needs of both workers and employers.

But, Mr Gan said, 'the trust and confidence among the tripartite partners should never be taken for granted'.

'We need to imbue successive generations of tripartite leaders with the same sense of common purpose and values.'