PETALING JAYA: Maintaining a common retirement age of 60 for both the public and private sectors provides consistency and clarity in the nation’s labour market, says the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).
Its president Datuk Dr Syed Hussein Syed Husman said this also helps avoid disparities in workforce expectations.
However, he said employers should continue to have the flexibility to re-employ or retain employees beyond the retirement age based on operational needs and an individual’s ability to continue contributing effectively.
“The practical approach is to maintain the retirement age at 60 while promoting policies that encourage willing, healthy and productive retirees to remain in employment.
“This could be through voluntary re-employment arrangements, contract engagements, mentoring roles or advisory positions,” he noted.
Syed Hussein said such an approach would also help retain valuable institutional knowledge while giving employers sufficient flexibility to manage operational requirements.
“Future policy discussions should focus on promoting active ageing, lifelong learning, upskilling and flexible post-retirement employment arrangements rather than mandating a higher retirement age,” he said.
On whether maintaining the retirement age at 60 would create more opportunities for younger job seekers, Syed Hussein said youth employment is influenced by a much broader range of factors than retirement age alone.
These include skills mismatches, employability gaps and evolving job requirements driven by digitalisation and artificial intelligence, he said.
“While workforce turnover due to retirement may create vacancies and career progression opportunities, the primary challenges affecting youth employment today stem from a combination of factors,” he added.
He was responding to the government’s recent announcement that there is no need to raise the retirement age for civil servants beyond 60 at this juncture.
Meanwhile, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the government should have clear career progression plans for civil servants, especially younger officers.
“Another aspect is how the government plans to finance emoluments, as government employees would remain in service longer, requiring greater expenditure for salaries and related costs,” he said.
He added that the government’s holistic approach would help strike a balance between allocating funds to assist the rakyat and ensuring careers in the public service remain sustainable and attractive.
Universiti Teknologi Mara senior lecturer Dr Mohamad Idham Md Razak said policymakers must continuously evaluate youth underemployment, labour productivity in the public sector and health-adjusted life expectancy trends.
He said indicators such as the annual growth of the public pension deficit relative to overall tax revenue should be monitored over the next five to 10 years.
“If fiscal data shows that pension liabilities are crowding out vital development expenditure while the domestic labour market remains highly constrained, revisiting and raising the retirement age may become necessary,” he explained.
He suggested introducing a flexible or phased retirement model to allow civil servants approaching 60 to voluntarily transition into part-time, advisory or specialised roles.
Source: keep-retirement-age-at-60
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