1. Use the right recruitment channels

To get the attention of mature job seekers, you should identify the right channels. You can consider these ways of reaching out to them.

• Employee Referral Programmes: These programmes reward employees with cash incentives, gifts or vouchers for successfully introducing a potential candidate to the company.
• Job advertisements in local newspapers or portals: Identify the newspapers or portals most read or visited by mature job applicants.
• WSG Career Centre at Community Development Councils: These recruitment platforms are located throughout Singapore, and you can find the one best suited for you
• Continuing Education and Training Centres: These campuses organise or host recruitment events, networking sessions and career seminars, where employers can recruit skilled employees. Learn more here.
  
  

2. Have an age-diverse interview panel

Implementing a diverse hiring panel ensures a mix of perspectives and systematically helps reduce unconscious bias in hiring. As the interviewing process can be intimidating for some, having an age diverse group of interviewers, including a mature interviewer, will also help to showcase the company’s diversity and put the interviewee at ease. This can also help bring out the best in the interviewee.

3. Create a supportive working environment

Having policies that cater to the needs of mature employees shows that you genuinely value this group. In turn, they are likely to stay loyal to the company.

A supportive work environment can be created through: 

• Job redesign, e.g. using technology to modify job tasks and responsibilities to ensure a workplace that is welcoming to employee of all ages.
• Demonstrate that you are invested in their development by providing opportunities to learn and upskill.
• Implementing flexible work arrangements . e.g. job sharing, telecommuting, part-time work

4. Provide training opportunities

Most mature employees appreciate the opportunity to receive education and training. Keeping their skills up-to-date improves their productivity in the company, and keeps them employable.

Companies can tap on the Government’s Workfare Training Support Scheme to reduce their training costs. Encourage younger and mature employees to learn from each other through a mentoring system where younger employees are paired with older colleagues. Younger workers can learn from the experiences and insights of their older colleagues. In return, mature employees can pick up new tips from their younger colleagues, for example, how to make better use of IT software, for instance.