Working Beyond 65: What the Data Tells Us About Employment, Income and the Age of AI

Singapore's decision to raise the retirement age to 65 and re-employment age to 70 from 2029 is welcome news for older workers. It gives those who wish to remain economically active more opportunities to do so, while allowing organisations to continue benefiting from their experience.

In an earlier article, I explored whether raising the retirement age was about working longer or having the choice to do so. But having the choice is one thing. Finding suitable employment, remaining relevant and earning a reasonable income are quite another.

So I decided to examine Singapore's latest employment statistics to understand what working beyond 65 actually looks like, and what the evidence might tell us about our own retirement careers.

Most seniors are not working, but that doesn't mean they are unemployed

According to Singapore's 2025 labour force statistics, there were approximately 825,200 residents aged 65 and above. Of these, 260,200 were employed, 6,300 unemployed and 558,700 outside the labour force.

In other words, almost 68% were not participating in the workforce, with the proportion higher among women (75%) than men (60%).

But the statistics do not tell us why.

Some may have accumulated sufficient savings to retire comfortably. Others may face health challenges, caregiving responsibilities or difficulty finding suitable work. These are very different circumstances, yet they fall under the same statistical category.

Among seniors who remained economically active, unemployment was relatively low at approximately 2.4%. However, this tells us little about how difficult it might be for an older person to find a new job, whether the available positions meet their expectations, or whether the income is sufficient.

Being employed, being employable and having a job that meets our needs are not necessarily the same thing.

Where are seniors finding employment?

Of the 260,200 employed residents aged 65 and above, approximately 62% worked in just five industries: wholesale and retail trade, administrative and support services, accommodation and food services, transportation and storage, and manufacturing.

Their occupations reveal something particularly interesting. Almost 30% worked as cleaners, labourers and related workers, making this the single largest occupational group among employed seniors. Another 17% worked in service and sales roles. Together, these occupations accounted for nearly half of working seniors.

Yet approximately 70,000, or 27%, were employed as managers, professionals, associate professionals and technicians.

The concentration in cleaning and labouring occupations deserves closer examination. Such jobs often have relatively low formal qualification requirements, but also tend to offer more modest salaries.

Could it be that for some seniors, these represent the more accessible employment opportunities available to them, rather than necessarily their preferred choice?

The data cannot establish whether seniors choose these jobs for their flexibility, lower responsibilities or other personal reasons, or whether they face difficulties accessing higher-paying alternatives.

Nevertheless, it raises an important distinction: having employment opportunities does not necessarily mean having access to employment that fully utilises one's experience or provides the income one needs.

Does a growing economy mean better employment prospects?

Singapore's economy grew by approximately 5% in 2025, but employment among seniors did not necessarily move in the same direction across industries.

Manufacturing contributed 1.4 percentage points to GDP growth, yet the number of employed seniors in the industry declined slightly. Accommodation and food services, on the other hand, contributed little to overall GDP growth but employed approximately 1,900 more seniors than the previous year.

These observations do not establish a direct relationship between economic growth and senior employment, but they illustrate why the two need not move together.

Industries can grow through technology, automation and productivity improvements without employing proportionately more people. Meanwhile, some labour-intensive industries continue requiring workers even when economic growth is modest.

For older workers, the challenge may therefore be twofold: finding industries that continue to employ seniors, and finding opportunities within those industries that offer suitable responsibilities and remuneration.

The fastest-growing industry may not necessarily offer the best prospects. What matters is whether an organisation needs the capabilities seniors can offer, and is prepared to employ and reward them accordingly.

Qualifications matter, but are we overlooking experience?

Another interesting finding concerns educational attainment.

Approximately 78% of men and 89% of women aged 65 and above have qualifications below diploma level. This reflects, in part, the educational opportunities available to their generation, when many entered the workforce early and developed their capabilities through decades of practical experience.

When considered alongside the occupational data, this suggests a possible explanation for why many seniors are concentrated in jobs with relatively low qualification requirements and modest pay.

Of course, we should not assume that everyone with lower formal qualifications has limited capabilities, nor that they are necessarily employed in lower-paying occupations. The educational figures cover all seniors aged 65+, not just those employed. But qualifications can influence which jobs applicants are eligible for, particularly when employers use them as screening criteria.

This brings us to another concern.

Today's employment market increasingly emphasises formal qualifications and professional certifications. Initiatives such as SkillsFuture, Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) and certifications offered by the Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP) are well-intentioned. They help establish competency standards and encourage continuous learning.

But when employers apply certification requirements too rigidly, they risk creating unintended barriers.

Consider someone with 30 years of relevant experience who wishes to transition into a new role. Despite having the necessary capabilities, they may discover that a particular certificate is required before they can even be shortlisted.

Obtaining that qualification could involve spending time and money on training and assessments, with no guarantee of employment. By the time they qualify, the vacancy may already have been filled.

Of course, some occupations require formal qualifications for legitimate safety, regulatory or professional reasons. Many certification frameworks also recognise previous learning and work experience.

The concern is not with certification itself, but with treating credentials as substitutes for assessing actual capability.

For older workers, particularly those with fewer formal qualifications but extensive practical experience, this could make the transition into better-paying or different occupations more difficult.

Surely, the purpose of skills development should be to improve employability, not to create unnecessary hurdles before experienced workers can demonstrate what they know.

Could AI change the equation?

There is another development that could fundamentally reshape employment prospects for seniors: artificial intelligence.

Much of the discussion about AI focuses on its potential to replace jobs. As organisations automate routine tasks and improve productivity, some may eventually need fewer employees to perform the same work.

But AI also creates a very different possibility.

Tasks that previously required specialised technical knowledge, such as analysing data, preparing reports, developing presentations or writing computer code, are becoming increasingly accessible to ordinary workers through AI assistance.

For experienced seniors who may have been held back by a lack of formal technical training, this could be particularly significant.

Consider a former operations manager with 30 years of industry experience but limited data analytics skills. AI could help that person analyse operational performance, identify patterns and explore improvements without having to master every technical detail.

However, knowing how to analyse data is not the same as knowing what the results mean.

An experienced manager may understand operational realities, recognise questionable assumptions and know when a recommendation is impractical. AI can assist with the analysis, but human experience and judgement remain important in interpreting the evidence and deciding what to do.

The same applies to experienced HR professionals, engineers, finance managers and many other occupations.

In this sense, AI could potentially reduce some technical barriers that previously limited the types of work experienced employees could perform, enabling them to contribute in more valuable ways.

This aligns with an important distinction in how organisations make decisions: human judgement provides context and direction, data provides evidence, and AI can assist with analysis or automate suitable tasks. The greatest value often comes from knowing how to combine all three.

Of course, experience does not automatically guarantee good judgement, nor does AI make everyone more employable. Workers still need to adapt, develop relevant capabilities and recognise the limitations of the technology.

Employers also face choices. Some may use AI primarily to reduce headcount, while others may redesign work to combine technological efficiency with human experience.

For seniors willing to make the transition, the opportunity may lie not in acquiring another collection of qualifications, but in demonstrating how their existing experience, supported by AI, can deliver value to employers.

Perhaps the most valuable worker in the age of AI will not necessarily be the youngest or the most technically qualified, but the one who knows how to combine relevant experience, sound judgement and technology.

What happens to our earning potential?

The concentration of seniors in relatively modest-paying occupations brings us to another important question: how much can older workers realistically expect to earn?

In 2025, the median gross monthly income for full-time employed men aged 40–49 was approximately $7,500. This compared with $5,750 for those aged 50–59 and $3,000 for those aged 60 and above.

For women, the corresponding figures were $6,000, $4,626 and $2,665.

In fact, median earnings among workers aged 60 and above were lower than those of workers below 30.

Historical MOM income distributions provide another perspective. For workers aged 60–69, the most common monthly income band was $1,000–$1,999, even though the median fell within the $2,000–$2,999 range.

These historical figures use a different income definition from the 2025 figures. More importantly, comparing different age groups does not mean every individual's salary will decline as they grow older.

Differences in occupations, working arrangements, qualifications and employment circumstances all influence the results.

However, when viewed alongside the occupational and educational statistics, these salary figures raise a reasonable concern: a sizeable number of seniors may face difficulty securing employment that offers earnings comparable to their earlier careers.

This is not necessarily because their experience has become worthless. It may reflect the types of jobs available to them, the qualifications employers require, changing industry needs, or a combination of

these factors.

Whether lower earnings reflect deliberate lifestyle choices or limited opportunities is something the data cannot establish.

A senior who willingly accepts a lower-paying, less demanding role may be perfectly content. Someone who needs to maintain their previous income but cannot find suitable employment faces a very different predicament.

The same salary can represent financial freedom for one person and financial hardship for another.

What can we learn from the data?

Taken together, the statistics paint a nuanced picture of senior employment in Singapore.

Employment opportunities certainly exist beyond 65, across both operational and professional occupations. Yet many seniors remain outside the workforce, while a substantial proportion of those employed work in occupations that generally offer relatively modest remuneration.

The combination of lower formal educational attainment, concentration in certain occupations and lower median earnings suggests that some seniors may face genuine constraints in accessing better-paying jobs.

Importantly, this is a concern suggested by the evidence, not a conclusion that every older worker is disadvantaged.

We should also recognise that these figures describe today's seniors. Future generations will have different educational backgrounds, career experiences and levels of technological familiarity. We should not assume they will face exactly the same circumstances.

AI makes the outlook even less certain. While it could displace some roles, it may also create opportunities for experienced workers who can combine their knowledge with new technology.

Rather than predicting what employment at 65 or 70 will look like, perhaps the more useful question is how we should prepare for the different possibilities.

Making informed choices about our retirement careers

For those approaching retirement, the findings suggest several considerations.

• First, do we actually want or need to continue working? Employment can provide income, purpose, social interaction and personal fulfilment. But individual circumstances differ, and continuing to work should not necessarily be the default objective.

• Second, what value can we continue to offer? Our qualifications and previous job titles may become less relevant over time, but our experience, relationships and judgement could remain valuable. The challenge is identifying where those capabilities are needed and how to demonstrate them.

• Third, what should we learn? Continuous learning matters, particularly as AI changes the nature of work. But training should address genuine capability gaps and improve employment prospects. Collecting qualifications without a clear purpose may not be the best use of limited time and resources.

• Fourth, are we prepared for different roles and working arrangements? A transition into part-time work, mentoring, advisory responsibilities or an unfamiliar industry may offer a different balance of income, responsibility and personal satisfaction. But such opportunities need to be explored and developed rather than assumed.

• Finally, how resilient are our financial commitments? Many of us make major lifestyle and financial decisions during our peak earning years. A larger property, substantial mortgage or other long-term obligations may appear affordable when our salaries are at their highest.

But what happens if our earning potential changes significantly after 60?

The employment data suggests this possibility deserves serious consideration, particularly if we are depending on continued employment to meet substantial financial commitments.

The answer isn't necessarily to avoid such commitments. It is to consider how well we could manage them under different employment and income scenarios, taking into account savings, CPF, investments, healthcare and family responsibilities.

None of these considerations guarantees a comfortable retirement. Together, however, they can help us make more informed decisions while we still have options.

Working longer should be an opportunity, not an assumption

Raising Singapore's retirement and re-employment ages is a positive development. But the statistics remind us that being eligible to work longer is not the same as being guaranteed suitable employment or sustained earning power.

And while extending employment opportunities is important, we should also consider the quality of those opportunities. Are seniors able to find jobs that make meaningful use of their capabilities, or are some limited to whatever jobs remain accessible to them?

For individuals, the challenge is to remain relevant, adapt to changing opportunities and prepare for different possible outcomes.

For employers, there is also an opportunity to rethink how they recognise skills and experience, particularly as AI changes the work people do and the capabilities organisations need.

Perhaps successful retirement planning is not simply about accumulating enough money or maintaining employment until 70.

It is about understanding our circumstances, recognising the possibilities and making choices that allow us to lead fulfilling lives.

After all, the greatest benefit of working longer is not simply having more years in the workforce, but having more choices about what we do with those years.