The grey-haired pour into labor market

More quinquagenarians have chosen to work rather than retire. According to data from Boss Zhipin (one of China's online recruitment platforms), the number of active job seekers over the age of 55 has increased by 27% year on year.

"Because employers are not required to pay social security for overage employees, labor costs can be significantly reduced," said Liu Yu, an experienced mangers on human resources.

Besides, the elderly do not prioritize salary and promotion as young people do. Instead, they care more about realizing self-worth. "The grey-haired have their advantages in the job market, and experienced technicians are especially in demand," added Liu.

The potential for older laborers is enormous. According to data from the seventh national census, China's population of people aged 60 and up exceeded 260 million, with 55.83% aged 60 and 69.

The proportion of people aged 60 and up with a high school diploma or higher is 13.90%, up 4.98 percentage points from a decade ago.

"Although the accelerated aging process poses challenges to economic and social development, it also contains a new demographic dividend," said Wang Ting, a HR director at the Business School of China University of Political Science and Law.

Wang said people in their 50s and 60s are in good health and have the desire and ability to work, noting the effective utilization of these human resources will alleviate the downward trend in labour supply.

Source：Workers’ Daily; Trans-editing by Guo Yao