2024-05-14 14:52:37
Employment Information Service ‘Food Industry Senior Employment Guide’
■Resolving manpower shortage through continuous employment system
Only 20-30% responded ‘lack of productivity’… “Low quit rate and low management costs”
■Selection plan should be made based on competency
When working on the production line, qualifications and experience are preferred… Job redesign is needed to reflect skill level
Recently, as the hiring crisis has become more severe, an increasing number of companies are actively utilizing older workers. In particular, in the case of food manufacturing, where it is difficult to find employees due to factories located in rural areas, healthy and capable elderly people are often continued to be hired or newly hired. As a result, many companies are complaining of difficulties in how to hire and manage older workers.
The Korea Employment Information Service recently published a ‘Guide to Employment of Elderly Personnel in the Food Industry’ at the request of the Food Industry Association. This is the first time that an employment guide for older workers in a specific industry has been published. We looked at the information needed for hiring and managing elderly workers, focusing on the contents of the guide.
● “Elderly people have higher or similar productivity than young people”
According to the Elderly Employment Act, people over 55 years of age are classified as senior citizens or senior workforce. The Employment Information Service surveyed 107 human resources managers at food and beverage manufacturing companies in June and July of last year to find out that 72.0% of responding companies operate a continuous employment system.
Continuous employment refers to a company that has a 60-year retirement age system extending or abolishing the retirement age, or continuing to employ workers who have reached retirement age through re-employment. 75.3% of companies with continuous employment chose to re-employ, and 15.6% and 9.1% of companies extended or abolished the retirement age, respectively.
The most common reason for food companies to continue hiring (multiple responses) was ‘because it is difficult to recruit new employees’ (67.5%). This was followed by ‘to continue to secure skilled workers in special fields’ (51.9%) and ‘to provide older workers with more stable work opportunities’ (40.3%).
A human resources manager at a food company that extended the retirement age to 65 in 2020 said, “Because it is difficult to recruit and skilled workers are needed, we decided that it would be better for existing employees to continue working, so we increased the retirement age.” An official from another company also said, “Each person who is familiar with the job is important,” and added, “If they want to continue working after retirement, we immediately hire them on a fixed-term basis, and if they have retired, we call them when the production schedule is busy and ask them if they are interested in joining the company on a fixed-term basis.” “I ask,” he said.
Food companies believe that the productivity of older workers does not decline significantly. Among office workers, only 31.3% perceived that the productivity of older workers relative to their wages was lower than that of workers in their 20s and 30s. 39.8% answered ‘similar’, and 28.9% said ‘older workers are more productive.’ In the case of production workers, 39.8% responded that ‘productivity relative to wages is similar for older workers and workers in their 20s and 30s’, and 35.7% responded that ‘it is higher for older workers.’ Older workers also have the advantage of requiring less time for training or job adaptation and having a relatively low quit rate, which reduces manpower management costs.
● Recruitment should be based on competency, such as skills and experience.
The Korea Employment Information Service advised that when hiring older workers, they should understand their characteristics and strengths and develop a plan to utilize them based on their required capabilities. For example, when creating hiring standards, it is desirable to first determine whether the job in question is suitable for older people, and if job-related work experience, skills, or qualifications are required, it is desirable to first hire people who have them. In fact, an official from a food company said, “We mainly hire people over the age of 55 for production assistant positions, and we give preference to those who hold the necessary certifications or have experience working on a manufacturer’s production line.”
Job redesign, such as assigning more suitable tasks to older employees, is also necessary. This can be done by entrusting training and mentoring roles to older workers with long-term experience and skills at the production site, or by entrusting customer service or consultation to elderly workers with a high understanding of the company and products. An official from a food company that carried out job redesign said, “Experienced seniors can do customer consultation better than newcomers with short experience,” and added, “There is also the advantage of being able to respond more flexibly when encountering strong customers.”
Kim Young-joong, Director of the Employment Information Center, said, “With the decline in the working-age population and aging population, it has become important to increase the productivity of the elderly in the labor market and create conditions for them to work for a long time.” He added, “The publication of the employment guide will help food companies secure excellent elderly workers and help them work longer.” “It will contribute to creating a working environment and organizational culture where one can demonstrate their capabilities,” he said.
Reporter Joo Ae-jin [email protected]
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2024-05-14 14:52:37