Regular viewer of the blog John sent me an email about the situation for Singaporeans in their 40s.
Hi Skeptic,
I wrote on your blog not too long ago on how to find job overseas. I recently went back to visit my parents and catch up with friends. Although it was a short trip, I left Singapore with a rather heavy heart. Maybe it is just me, as I have been away for a while. The conversations I had with friends, strangers and various contacts do suggest that life is tough for Singaporeans in the early 40s. However, the people I spoke to may not be representative of the population. Maybe you have a different view on this matter and I like to hear a different perspective.
1) I was speaking to a nice taxi driver on my way from the airport to my parents' place. The taxi driver uncle was very polite and speaks very well. I found out that he used to be an Assistant GM for a manufacturing plant (electronics) in Singapore which had to be shut down and relocated to China. He is 45 and has two kids still in school. His job search took more than 2 years and he decided to drive taxi as an interim measure to keep the income coming while he continue his job search. His comments: " when you are in your 40s, you better make sure you either at the top of your profession, CEO, or running your business. If you are in the middle management level, most headhunters will not be interested in you unless you have very specialized domain knowledge or expertise. "
2) I spoke to a friends of mine in a dinner setting. (age group 38-41) Most of them are senior executives (VP level) at various industries. I asked them a question, " do you see yourself keeping your job when you hit 45?" Most of them were not too optimistic about it. My friends are in sales and HR in various industries, software, IT, telecom, manufacturing etc. Their responses were quite similar. If you don't make it to senior management level, say at director level or above, chances of you keeping your job above 45 is going to be tough. How many people make it to the top? For the singles, adjustment is less of an issue as the smart ones would have amassed some cash and property that will help them through the winter years. However, at 45, the winter years is going to be very, very long given the average life expetancy these days. For those who are married with kids still in School, it will be very tough. Most of them would not have enough for early retirement and options are limited at that age. It seems strange to me that if only the senior executives (director, business owners, CEO) get to keep their job above 50, then where are those people who are not the same calibre at that age group? For people in the HR and accounting professions, I told them there is still lots of demand in China, if they are willing to take local package and rough it out for a couple of years. Many were surprised that some jobs in China pays better than Singapore. However, most of them expressed reluctuance to work abroad and not willing to be away from family for an extended period of time. I can only conclude that my friends are not hungry enough and life is probably still tolerable for now.
3) with the exceptions of the high fliers and those in the comfortable government jobs, it seems that 45 is roughly the cut off age for meaningful employment. Past that age, the income level will start dropping and it will be difficult to hold on to long term meaningful employment. How many of us have enough for retirement at 45? How many of us are planning for things to keep themselves busy while making some income beyond 45? What are the options available in Singapore at that age besides driving taxi, McDonalds and 'consultancy'. The latter being a euphemisum for being unemployed. However, many people don't seem to be worried until it hits them by surprise and it becomes too late to do anything.
I don't have solutions, but I think if we are start thinking about such issues early, we will be better equipped to deal with it when it comes.
Skeptic, have you come across similar issues in the past?
Best Regards,John
This is one part where I agree with Lee Kuan Yew. We Singaporeans are complacent. As children we constantly worry about our future until we graduate and get our first job. We then stop worrying about our future at the time when we should be planning ahead. And we resume worrying in our late 40s onwards when it is too late (after spending 20 years on auto-pilot).
Why do I say so? Because in your 20s, you have have more resources to protect yourself. Firstly, your social network is not yet set in stone. It is easier for a young person to move around and network compared to a 40 year old former manager looking for a job. It is also easier to form positive habits when one is younger.
So this is what I would do to protect myself. It is no guarantee that it will always work but I think it is better than nothing.
Money Investment
1. First save as much money as possible. This means deferred gratification. This is especially hard in our materialistic society. Furthermore, housing is expensive and CPF is low return so that would prove to be hard. One possible way to get around that is to relocate out of Singapore.
2. The second thing is to try to develop passive sources of income and make sure they are safe. Maybe use your money to buy dividend producing blue-chip stocks or A rated bonds. Go for stability of income rather than high yield.
Social Investment
3. This is something that Singaporeans are not very good at. But you should network early when you still have a job. That means volunteering, join the grass-roots or some club. It is better if you establish firm contacts outside your comfort zone. If you are working as an engineer, network with lawyers. If you are a teacher, network with businessmen etc.. This would give you more mobility when you need to switch fields. You should network early. The last thing you want is to attend a networking session for jobless 40 year olds who merely exchange business cards but find no meaningful contacts.
4.Do not burn any bridges. So what does this mean? If you are a boss. Be nice to everyone, you never know when your subordinates may help you in the future when you get retrenched. Whether they are at a lower or higher position than you, treat everyone nicely.
Skills Investment
5. You have to be careful with this one. Unless you are in a field which requires constant updating of skills like doctor or computer engineer, it would make more sense to upgrade your social-networking skills. You could potentially gain more from volunteering in church/grass-roots than doing a correspondence course unknown MBA; which I think is a waste of time and money. But whatever it is, don't upgrade for the sake of upgrading. Some of these courses are pretty useless. Choose it carefully. Take courses where there is a high barrier to entry. So a CPA would be more useful than a course that teaches you how to use Microsoft Word.
Health Investment
6. Make sure you take care of your health. What could be worse than a retrenched 40 year old man is a retrenched 40 year old man with hypertension and diabetes. If you are of poor health in your 40s, how are you going to compete with a man in his 20s?
Insurance
7. I do not know about Singapore. But in the US, there is such a thing known as unemployment insurance which help smooths your cash-flow when you get retrenched.
8. Health Insurance- this one is pretty obvious.
9. Life Insurance- Not so much for you but for your kids. (applies to married people only)
Risk Taking
10. Finally, you should be prepared to take calculated risk when you are young and venture abroad. Ask your company for a transfer, study overseas. Strike it on your own. The Singapore job market is a small well. Do you want to be a frog in the well for your entire life?
I want to state that it is easier said than done. I am speaking as someone who doesn't have a family or live in Singapore but this is what I would do. Furthermore, I must admit that I am still young and inexperienced so some of the things I say can be taken with a pinch of salt.
Risk Taking
10. Finally, you should be prepared to take calculated risk when you are young and venture abroad. Ask your company for a transfer, study overseas. Strike it on your own. The Singapore job market is a small well. Do you want to be a frog in the well for your entire life?
I want to state that it is easier said than done. I am speaking as someone who doesn't have a family or live in Singapore but this is what I would do. Furthermore, I must admit that I am still young and inexperienced so some of the things I say can be taken with a pinch of salt.
So John this is what I would do to have some level of protection. Thank you very much for your comments. I hope we heed his warning calls about life at 40.