With the average life expectancy in Taiwan increasing, the number of Taiwanese over the age of 65 is expected to exceed one-fifth of the population in four years. By 2026, the population structure would have morphed into an inverted pyramid. The elderly population would be three times as large as the population of young people.
If ways to increase the senior labor force participation rate are not figured out, Taiwan’s competitiveness would be compromised.
When the aging trend began at the end of the 20th century, Western countries started promoting the concept of “productive aging,” encouraging older people to re-enter the workforce or postpone their retirement. This increased senior labor force participation rates, highlighting that older people are contributors, rather than burdens, to society.
It also promotes social participation by older people by having them engage in productive activities — be it paid jobs or unpaid voluntary work. “Productive aging” not only reverses the stereotype of older people being a dependent population, it also benefits their physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
The retirement age of Taiwan’s workers last year was about 10 years younger than that of Japan and South Korea, Ministry of Labor data showed.
The significantly lower rate of labor participation among elderly people in Taiwan is rooted in the agism that prevails in the nation. There is a belief that the way of thinking among elderly people and their abilities make them unable to keep up with a company’s development.
Therefore, no matter how enthusiastic an elderly person might be about working, they often have to give up the idea because of the rejection they face while job hunting.
Having a corporate culture friendly to older people and optimizing an older workforce requires the government and corporate employers to work together.
Since 1995, Japan has implemented the Basic Law on Measures for the Aging Society, which enables the government to provide incentives for businesses to hire workers aged 65 or older.
The law also takes into account the physical fitness of people in that age bracket and allows workload flexibility, providing workplaces in which older workers can have a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.
South Korea has promoted its Basic Plans for Promoting Employment of the Aged, focusing on solutions to keep middle-aged and elderly people employed, such as an agreement between employers and employees to reduce wages and working hours year by year before retirement.
The South Korean government also subsidizes employers that hire older employees.
Taiwan’s white paper on its aging society published in 2015 advocated young and old people working together to promote the presence of elderly people in the workplace, and build a working environment in which they can contribute and pass on their experience. This is to pave a new way of sustainable workforce development.
Taipei should use what the Japanese and South Korean governments are doing as a reference, and formulate laws to promote the employment of older people, and implement the concept of young and old people working together. Then it can deal with the details of wages and working hours.
This would surely facilitate the re-employment of older people and enhance Taiwan’s competitiveness.
Chen Chien-hsien is an adjunct assistant professor at Meiho University’s Department of Social Work.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
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