Overview of Aging Population in Singapore
Populations in many developed countries are ageing, and Singapore is no exception. The first batch of post-war baby boomers will reach 65 years of age by 2012. The number of seniors will increase from 8.4% in 2005 to 18.7% in 2030 (refer to Table 1).
According to the 2010 Population Report,
The proportion of residents (i.e. citizens and PRs) aged 65 and above increased from 7.0% of the resident population in 1999 to 8.8% in 2009. Correspondingly, the number of younger residents aged 15-64 for every resident aged 65 and above (i.e. the old-age support ratio) fell from 10.1 in 1999 to 8.3 in 2009 (refer to Table 2). (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2010, p. 4)
Today, one out of every 12 …show more content…

The thinking of the older generation is more conservative than those of the younger generation. It would thus be a challenge for the hotels wanting the older employees to improve their values in their job scope. With a more conservative mindset and thinking, they would be afraid to try new things and be more innovative.

In turn, the hotel will lose its competitiveness if new changes are adopted. Hence, the HR unit in a hotel has to place their older employees in the most relevant training to help them prepare for changes in their current jobs. Besides that, older employees would normally take a longer time to adapt to changes, thus the management has to work out appropriate schedules to help their employees to have a proper balance with their job and trainings.

D) Older employees tend to have more skills and knowledge in the industry due to the experiences they have gone through. Retaining this skills and knowledge is critical for hotels to ensure that the younger generation will also have these basic skills and knowledge as a platform for them to have an advantage over their competitors.

E) Although there is a need to retain these skills and knowledge, there will definitely be a time when one has to retire. However, the aging workforce is usually reluctant to leave their positions as they are emotionally attached to the hotel. This would be a challenge for the hotel to find ways to recruit younger employees, without resulting in excess