Group wants retirement age upped to 65 under flexible conditions

 

The Social Protection Contributors Advisory Association Malaysia (SPCAAM) has proposed that workers be allowed to work up to age 65 of their own volition.

Its international labour adviser Callistus Antony D’Angelus pointed to the recent heated debates on Employees Providence Fund (EPF) withdrawals, which he said highlighted that many workers may benefit from a flexible approach.

“They should not be made to retire, and neither should they be compelled to work.

“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,” he said in a statement today.

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D’Angelus argued that this would allow workers to work beyond 60 and up to 65, thereby easing the economic strain on themselves and the nation.

“Private sector employees, who depend on savings from their EPF to tide them over during retirement, are now severely challenged.

“The EPF reported recently that 51.5 percent of its members under 55 years old had savings below RM10,000.

“This means that Malaysia is headed for a serious socioeconomic crisis for its retired and retiring population down the road,” he said.

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Living longer

D’Angelus cited the United Nations Population Division that global life expectancy at birth for both sexes has increased from 46.5 years in 1950 to 71.7 in 2022.

“During the same period, the increase in life expectancy in Malaysia was from 52.8 to 76.51 years,” he said.

Therefore people are living longer and finding it difficult to support themselves upon retirement, he added.

“Where people work and earn a decent wage, they have the ability to spend more, in turn creating the stimulus for further economic growth.

“Conversely, where people are not gainfully employed and do not have enough to sustain themselves economically once they retire, the strain is felt both personally and more generally by the national economy,” he elaborated.

He also took aim at the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, saying it was not offering concrete solutions to the retirement issues facing workers in this connection.

“The country needs some creative and equitable solutions for issues affecting workers and a major reform of labour and economic policies,” he added.