S'pore raises retirement age

S'pore raises retirement age

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore has raised the retirement age of
employees by two years to 62 to combat a perennial labor shortage
and give its rapidly aging population a longer stint in the
workplace.

The move, which comes with measures to reduce employers' costs
of retaining older workers, is part of a plan to eventually raise
the retirement age to 67 in the island of three million people,
news reports said yesterday.

Labor Minister Lee Boon Yang told parliament yesterday that
the move to raise the retirement age addressed the economic and
social repercussions of Singapore's ageing population.

The new retirement age takes effect in 1999. Some 10,000
Singaporeans due to retire that year will benefit.