THE unity government is now torn between a rock and a hard place insofar as extending the retirement age of Malaysians is concerned.
While such move will mitigate the depletion of old-age savings which have reached a critical level thanks to the series of targeted Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals, this could also mean that senior citizens will soon be competing for jobs that are already hard to come by for young Malaysians.
In this regard, the Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (IKATAN) Youth chief Shahir Adnan has urged the government to weight the overall impact prior to deriving a decision.
“It has to be looked at from several angles. Among them, there is concern because savings in the EPF are shrinking and the EPF’s dividend rate is also said not to be very high since the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he was quoted as saying by HarakahDaily.
“On the other hand, if the government agrees to extend the retirement age, this will to some extent close the opportunities for young people or graduates of public or private tertiary institutions to enter the job market.”
Shahir who is also the IKATAN Kelantan chairman was commenting on the proposal by the Social Protection Contributors Advisory Association Malaysia (SPCAAM) that workers be allowed to work up to age 65 if they choose to do so.
Pointing to the recent heated debates on EPF withdrawals, its international labour adviser Callistus Antony D’Angelus highlighted that many Malaysians who have reached the current official retirement age of 60 (for the public sector) may benefit from a flexible approach.
“They should not be made to retire, and neither should they be compelled to work,” he opined in a statement.
“For those who continue to work beyond the existing retirement age, it should not involve employment on a contract basis as that would give rise to precarious and exploitative employment practices.”
Going by D’Angelus’ argument, Shahir projected that young people would probably have to wait another five years to enter the job market given that “job opportunities will only open up when there is a vacancy due to retirement”.
On the same note, he also contended that upon reaching the golden age of 60, many people would wish “to only relax and focus on their own affairs instead of still being chased by a hectic work schedule”.
“At the same time, amid the rapidly developing state of technology, it will be quite awkward for them at that age to learn new technology. For example, if sales transaction used to take place in stores in the past, they now have to conduct sales campaigns online on TikTok.”
Therefore, in order to find the best solution for all parties, Shahir called on the government to offer more incentives to the elderly or retirees.
“At the same time, the government needs to lower the cost of living so that all parties are not burdened by the current economic state,” he added. – April 12, 2023
