Abstract:
This research aims to study the requirements for elderly workers in private
sector, examine practical guidelines for the employment of the elderly as well as
investigate problems and obstacles in hiring the elderly among private sector in the
Eastern Economic Corridor region including Chonburi, Rayong and Chachoengsao. In
this research, the researcher adopted a qualitative research method by collecting
data from a sample group of 17 executives in the human resource department of
private organizations (1 person from 1 company). The adopted research instrument is
the in-depth interview using open-ended questions for key Informants. The interview
questions cover a variety of issues consisting of guidelines or perspectives on the
employment of the elderly from various aspects in details and crucial
recommendations related to guidelines for the employment of the elderly in order
to propose the pathway to the development of Thailands economic system in the
future.
The research results show that, regarding the issues relating to private
sector's need to hire elderly workers, it was suggested that elderly workers should be
continually employed since they are workers with high working experience who are
capable of assisting the organizational and personnel development. Additionally,
new generation workers are still unable to fulfill the labour market at the moment,
which leads to a shortage of labour. The next issue is the various strength of the
elderly workers including knowledge, skills, and high experience in both management
and professional expertise, which can pass on to new generation workers to
maximize efficiency at work. Furthermore, elderly workers have good understanding
of organizational culture and regulations. They are also highly responsible and
tolerant. Most importantly, they are able to control emotions well, especially in
stressful situations. On the contrary, the weakness that elderly workers need to
improve is the understanding of technology, that is necessary and essential in this
era, as well as other relevant areas of knowledge. In summary, elderly workers
should strengthen their working skills to be multi-skill workers and try to modernize
the original knowledge. With regards to the next issue relating to economic, social
and national overview. it was found that hiring the elderly to continue working can
be considered as the promotion of income-generating schemes that support the
elderly to not be a burden to society and the government. This can also remove
some types of illness such as depression, Alzheimer's disease etc. Concerning the
issue of problems or obstacles from the employment of the elderly. it was found
that most of them did not understand technology and some of them may still cling
to the same working style, not open to change and face health issues that may
cause problems in some positions. Relating to the issue of solving problems or
obstacles in the employment of the elderly, it was found that the job duties should
be arranged according to age ranges or the existing knowledge by focusing on
consulting positions. The last issue deals with the pattern and guidelines for
employing the elderly in the future. It was proposed that that elderly workers should
be continually hired as they have high working experience and they also have
encountered many problems and obstacles as well as passing through the process of
solving various problems. They can be considered as competent workers who can
well-transfer knowledge to the new generation. Therefore, the appropriate duty
should focus on consulting positions. However, there must be a clear regulations and
criteria for extending the age of retirement in order to generate mutual
understanding.