MR WILLIAM Lim readily admits that employing older workers is not cheap.

The 47-year-old chief executive of curry puff maker Old Chang Kee says medical insurance for older workers sets him back by at least $20,000 a year.

The company also recently redesigned its work-flow processes, bought new machinery like conveyor belts, and customised software and computers for their outlets.

OLDER IS SOMETIMES BETTER: Mr Lim (left), CEO of curry puff maker Old Chang Kee, says he likes hiring older workers like Mr Lee Weng Siong (right), 78, because they are stable on the job and do not job hop. Photo/ EDWIN KOO

All this was done to make sure that workers aged 40 and above - who make up 80 per cent of their 400 staff - do not need to carry heavy loads and will find it easier to do their jobs. The cost of the changes: at least $1 million.

And while the company did draw on the Government's funding, Mr Lim estimates that it covered only a quarter of his investment costs.

'Yes, some of my business friends tell me I'm crazy, that I don't know how to do business,' he says with a wry smile.

Indeed, on top of paying for the changes, he also has to rethink the way workers are trained - from food safety, to getting them to understand what the Old Chang Kee brand stands for.

'It's not easy. Many of them don't understand what branding is, and why they have to handle food a certain way. The management and human resource staff had to think out of the box.'

For instance, instead of using swanky marketing talk to explain the concept of branding, it simply explained to the 'aunties and uncles' that as front-line representatives, their interactions have an impact on how customers regard the company and its products.

So if people think he's crazy, why does Mr Lim continue hiring older workers? For one thing, young people are not turning up for job interviews to work at their 50 outlets here, he says.

But Mr Lim is partial to older workers because they are stable and do not job hop. The alternative in a shrinking local labour market, he says, is to take on foreign workers.

But this is not an attractive option for Mr Lim simply because there are additional costs, like paying for the levy which amounts to $150 a worker.

This does not mean he will accept any or all older workers knocking on his door. In fact, his guard goes up whenever someone asks him to give a job to an elderly relative.

'I ask them, has she worked before, is she willing to tahan the long hours standing in one place?' he says.

'It's not about giving jobs to bored aunties. We are looking for workers with good attitudes - which means that, for us, age does not matter.'

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