Singapore is no country for old men and women. Although Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew continues to hold office at 86 and his former deputies Tony Tan and S Dhanabalan are corporate bigwigs in their 70s, age can be a disadvantage lower down the job market.

Older laid-off workers are likely to remain unemployed longer than younger workers, no matter what their education level.

They may have the same problem in other countries, but now we know how acute the problem is in Singapore.

A Ministry of Manpower (MOM) report shows nearly half of those in their 30s and more than 50 per cent of those in their 40s and 50s remained unemployed six months after losing their jobs. Younger workers were luckier, with 68 per cent of the under-30s re-employed within that time.

Long-term unemployment is on the rise, with almost a quarter of the jobseekers looking for work at least for 25 weeks, according to the ministry report. It says, "The number and share of unemployed residents who had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks (i.e. long-term unemployed) rose from 12,900 or 18% of job seekers in December 2008 to 13,900 or 23% in December 2009."

Singapore residents aged 40 and over made up 47 per cent of the jobless workers in December 2009, up from 43 per cent in December 2008.

This table shows the percentage of Singapore residents who were re-employed within six months of losing their jobs. It shows their age groups and education levels. The figures show how hard it is for older university graduates to get new jobs.

(The letter s indicates "data suppressed due to small number of observations", says the report.)

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