Abstract

The labour force is experiencing an increased proportion of mature workers, alongside a slowdown in the number of young entrants joining the workforce. Many organisations will need to adapt their workforce management strategies to cushion the reduced labour supply in the workforce. This paper explores the implication of this demographic development by utilising a multimethod approach to examine current and future trends in the labour market as well as the key factors that can influence the decisions to remain in the labour market for mature workers and women with caregiving responsibilities. Forecasting methods were applied to explore how various demographic scenarios could impact specific industries. We found that the labour market is generally expected to recover based on the forecasted increase in the job vacancy-to-unemployment ratio and fall in the unemployment rate. At the industry level, however, the manufacturing industry is expected to experience some headwinds in employment growth, which is expected to be weak, while the construction industry is expected to see a decline in employment growth. Finally, job vacancies across all industries are expected to decline over time. From the qualitative study, we found mature workers and women with caregiving responsibilities face challenges such as having limited and unequal access to employment, facing skills gap barriers, and struggling to balance between their personal commitment and professional demands. By addressing the unique needs of mature workers and women with caregiving responsibilities, organisations can adopt successful workforce management strategies to cultivate a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Summary

This paper explores the implication of this demographic development by utilising a multimethod approach to examine current and future trends in the labour market as well as the key factors that can influence the decisions to remain in the labour market for mature workers and women with caregiving responsibilities. 

We found that the labour market is generally expected to recover based on the forecasted increase in the job vacancy-to-unemployment ratio and fall in the unemployment rate. At the industry level, however, the manufacturing industry is expected to experience some headwinds in employment growth, which is expected to be weak, while the construction industry is expected to see a decline in employment growth. Finally, job vacancies across all industries are expected to decline over time. 

From the qualitative study, we found mature workers and women with caregiving responsibilities face challenges such as having limited and unequal access to employment, facing skills gap barriers, and struggling to balance between their personal commitment and professional demands. By addressing the unique needs of mature workers and women with caregiving responsibilities, organisations can adopt successful workforce management strategies to cultivate a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Project Team

Sheryl Chua
Dr. Sheryl Chua is trained in the field of Behavioural Sciences and is currently a Senior Lecturer at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), where she is the Deputy Head of the Public Safety and Security programme. She is an Industrial–Organisational Psychologist with experience in both the public and private sectors, specialising in leadership assessment, selection, and employee engagement. Her research interests are organisational psychology, crisis leadership, well-being, and understanding the dynamics of the ageing workforce.

Soon-Hock Kang
Dr. Soon-Hock Kang is the Vice-Dean and Head of Behavioural Science Core at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). He is a Sociologist whose primary field of research centres on population ageing and its impact on the family in Singapore. At SUSS, his research interests have expanded to include subjective well-being and issues concerning the ageing workforce. He has been part of multidisciplinary research teams that have received grants to investigate these areas.

Nicholas Sim
Dr. Nicholas Sim is an Associate Professor at the School of Business, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), where he is the Head of the Master of Analytics and Visualisation programme. His work mainly focusses on applied econometrics and programme evaluation. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Boston College and was a Faculty at the University of Adelaide prior to SUSS. He is the Managing Editor of the Asian Economic Journal.

Wen Shan (Vivien)
Dr. Wen Shan (Vivien) is a Lecturer at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Nanyang Technological University with a Master’s degree in Applied Psychology from Beijing Normal University, China. Her main research interests include how culture shapes inequalities in organisations, as well as big data analytics and AI technologies in human resource management research. She has published more than 30 papers in prestigious platforms including the Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, and International Human Resource Development.

Zheng Fang
Dr. Zheng Fang is an Associate Professor and Director of the Office of Graduate Studies at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). She was a Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University; anAssociate Professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China; and a Consulting Analyst at Mercer-HRBS, Singapore. She obtained her Ph.D. in Economics from Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity and has published more than 30 articles in leading journals.She is the Associate Editor of Singapore Economic Review (SSCI, ABDC Rank B) and the Guest Editor of Sustainability (SSCI).

Sandra May Myo Han
Sandra May Myo Han is currently a Research Executive at the School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences in Singapore University of Social Sciences. Her main research interest centres around human studies. Her past research experiences include volunteerism behaviour in Singapore and the ageing population in the Korean context.

Information extracted from Singapore Labour Journal 2024 Research Articles

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