A recent report released by the Manpower Ministry, particularly focused on the Singapore workforce, has revealed that older Singaporeans, despite an overall decline in the country's employment rate, continue to maintain a record high level of employment. The global recession, it seems, has hit the country's older population less.

The report, which was released on Monday, also revealed that "term contract employment" in the recent times has nudged higher as employers now look for greater flexibility when it comes to managing manpower. Employees on term contracts hiked to 4.3% to 197,200 in 2009, much faster than the 0.8% increase recorded in permanent employees.

"The rate for older men in Singapore was also one of the highest internationally. On the other hand, the employment rate among females in Singapore generally lagged those in developed countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States", the survey noted.

As confirmed by the report's revelation, 57.2% of older Singapore residents were still working. In fact, the number of older men working had surged from 73.6% recorded in 2008 to 74.7% in June. The percentage of older working women had dropped from 40.5% to 40.1%.