BEIJING, Saturday 18 September 2010 (Bernama)–
said Cuepacs’s proposal on raising the retirement age of public servants from 58 to 60 had been discussed at the ministry’s highest level, but to date no decision had been made.
An in-depth study had to be carried out as there were pros and cons in extending the retirement age in the public sector, he told Bernama on the sidelines of the 5th APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Conference here.
The two-day conference ended yesterday.
Dr Subramaniam also said that it would be difficult for the government to extend the retirement age in the public service and at the same time reduce its size.
“If we keep on extending the service of the older people, the younger generation will not be able to get jobs,” he added.
He said Malaysia’s public service size was very huge compared to other countries with the teaching profession employing the highest number of people.
Malaysia, which has a population of 26 million, has a public sector workforce of 1.2 million people.
The retirement age for public sector employees in Malaysia was increased from 56 to 58 in 2008 and Cuepacs, the umbrella union for civil servants in the country, had proposed to the government to further raise it to 60 to be on par with other countries in the region.
The retirement age of civil servants in Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia is 60 while in Singapore, it is 62. (By VINCENT LOW/Bernama)
