Age discrimination is indeed a weapon against older professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) aged 50 to 60 from securing meaningful employment (“Ageism is biggest obstacle to employability of older S’poreans”, May 22; “Agencies’ mindset about seniors a barrier”, May 23).
With the mushrooming of recruitment agencies, this industry certainly needs a shake-up so older job seekers do not waste their time sending resumes and attending unfruitful interviews. Recruiters today, mostly aged in their 20s and without certification in human resources, are not up to the task of professional job-matching.
They conduct cursory job interviews and fail to see the value in older candidates — skills, attitude, resourcefulness, commitment, insight and networks. These are amassed from life and work experience, and come with age.
Regardless of how much training and skills-upgrading mature workers undergo or the grants offered by the Government to entice employers to hire mature PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) age discrimination has, and looks set to, stubbornly persist. Letters are frequently published in the media detailing accounts of age discrimination. The Government ought to take note.
