Why more and more senior citizens are hunting for jobs

In the quiet town of Assam’s Lakhimpur, Sooraja Phukan, 65, suffers from severe knee pain. It takes great effort for her to even walk around her house. She, however, does not remain seated. Every day she wakes up at 5 am, finishes her household chores and by 7 am she opens her small grocery shop adjacent to her two-room house.

Phukan, a widow, was a retired private school teacher. Her late husband ran the grocery shop till 2022 when he died af-ter suffering a heart attack. Her two sons aged 40 and 35 work as construction workers in Kerala. They could not find any jobs in Assam despite being graduates.

"I was a teacher in a private school. I retired when I turned 58. I have no pension provision. My sons' earnings take care of the expenses of their families. I don't want to be a burden on them. However, if I don't work and run the grocery shop, it would be difficult for me to survive," says Phukan.

The 65-year-old looked for jobs in private schools after her retirement, but no one hired her. She even tried to provide tuition to students but that did not last long.

"Ideally, I would like to teach children. I was a teacher for more than three decades. I taught social science, English and Assamese. I have a lot of experience. My former students are doing well in life. Several school managements rejected my job application because of my age. I am old for them. So, I decided to run my husband's grocery shop instead of closing it down," she adds.

A quest for financial freedom

Phukan's concerns and hardships echoed at a recently held job fair for senior citizens in Karnataka's capital Bengaluru. The event —Jobs 60+ fair—saw at least 1,250 job aspirants taking a shot at a "second innings" in their life, usually known as "retirement life" when they leave the workforce be-hind.

The job fair was hosted by Nightingales Medical Trust (NMT), a not-for-profit organisation working for the well-being of the elderly and persons with dementia and Alzheimer's since 1998. Over the years several seniors expressed their desire to rejoin the workforce for various reasons, primarily to gain financial stability.

In 2011, the NMT under the Nightingales Empowerment Foundation (NEF) started NMT Jobs 60+ “to provide a financially independent life for healthy and employable retired elders by enabling them to re-enter the job market or become self-employed”.

Thus NMT Jobs 60+ opened its employment bureau, where job aspirants were given training according to their skills and interests. A dedicated job portal was also started to help the elderly apply directly for available jobs and connect with employers willing to employ senior citizens.

Like the NMT's job portal, on October 1, 2021, the govern-ment of India inaugurated an online employment exchange platform to cater to senior citizens seeking job opportunities. The portal developed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is named Senior Able Citizens for Re-Employment in Dignity (SACRED).

The trend of elderly job seekers is rising

This was the ninth edition of the NMT's job fair. Every year the number of job aspirants attending the fair was increasing.

“There is a clear rise in the trend of senior citizens actively seeking employment opportunities, showcasing their willingness to rejoin the workforce. This year, 1,250 job aspirants were a part of the fair. In 2023, 698 senior citizens wanted jobs for themselves,” says Ruth Nisha, project manager, NMT Jobs 60+.

“These individuals, between 55 to 70 years, were physically fit, prepared to work and eager to use their skills and experience to earn a livelihood. They came from varied back-grounds, qualifications and experience levels,” she adds.

Around 70 companies hired at least 112 senior citizens during the job fair. Around 549 were shortlisted for jobs.

Some of the job roles offered at the fair were: admin, accounts, clerical, housekeeping, marketing, peon/office help, supervisor/warden, teaching, technical / engineering, data entry, insurance, typist/stenographer, security and purchase, to name a few.

Shrihari Shidhaye, secretary general of All India Senior Citizens' Confederation (AISCCON), says there is a rise in the number of elderly people looking for jobs.

“With increasing longevity, better health conditions and nu-clear family structures more and more seniors are willing to work in their sixties. They also want to utilize their knowledge and expertise to make meaningful contributions and remain mentally and physically engaged. The opportunities to do so are coming up in urban areas.”

The AISCCON is an apex body for various senior citizen organisations in India. It was formed in 2001.

“Through our efforts and efforts of our affiliate organisations, we are focused on the welfare of senior citizens and ensuring they get a chance to live dignified lives,” says Shidhaye.

“We work with the central and state governments to ensure that various benefit schemes, regulations and legal frameworks are created for the betterment of seniors," he adds.

Who will take care of the rising elderly population?

There has been a steady rise in the population of senior citizens in India. The number of elderly persons increased from 1.98 crore in 1951 to 7.6 crore in 2001 and 10.38 crore in 2011. As per the report of the Technical Group on Population Projections for India and States (2011-2036) submitted to the National Commission on Population, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the population of senior citizens in India is projected to touch 14.9 per cent of the country’s population by 2036.

According to the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI), India will have over 319 million elderly by 2050 compared to the 120 million now.

With the increase in life expectancy, India does not have a well-rounded mechanism to address issues like health, care-giving and financial security of its geriatric population. In India, a person retires at 60 years (or 58 years) despite being fit and eager (in several cases) to continue working and earning.

Thus it leaves a retiree with fewer sources to generate income. Only self-employed people (like businessmen), bureaucrats, high-ranking officials (who get an extension of tenure) and high-profile corporate employees get a chance to continue working after 60.

Even in the informal sector, most people like domestic help and daily wage earners, stop working as their poor health doesn’t allow them to do physical activity. In India, retirement age is one of the lowest globally. Countries like Spain and Italy have set their retirement age as 66 and 67 years, respectively.

No pension and price rise causes of concern

Several job aspirants The Federal spoke with said their "weak economic condition and high inflation rate" forced them to look for jobs after retirement. A minuscule number said they want to keep themselves occupied and remain active.

Bengaluru-based Suresh NK, 63, says he needs to work as his earlier job at a private educational institution from where he retired five years ago does not provide him with a pension. A corporate entity hired him as a marketing manager during the job fair.

“Without a job or a pension, it is difficult to manage my home finances. So I have decided to work again. I am also fit to work. I have almost four decades of work experience which I will apply in my new job,” he adds.

Sixty-five-year-old Ramesh Murthy, who landed a sales manager job at the fair, says he was running his business establishment until five years back. “Now, my former partners are looking after it. I decided to work again as I am still mentally and physically fit. Moreover, the cost of living in a city like Bengaluru is stratospheric. It's always good to earn and be independent," he adds.

Will the government bring an inclusive policy for the elderly?

India's retired population often face huge financial issues (especially those without pension benefits).

"Unlike in developed countries, where the social security systems and health services take care of the retired elderly, the resources in India, both from the government and the private sectors are limited to providing senior citizens basic benefits like healthcare, food, housing and economic security,” states a communiqué of the NMT.

"In India, only 10 per cent of retired employees get a pension from the government/former employers. The other 90 per cent are forced to survive on their savings which often get exhausted within a few years of retirement," it adds.

Most of the government schemes like the monthly old-age pension, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) (a national public health insurance scheme) and the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE) are for low-income groups. Several reports have shown that the de-livery of these schemes suffers from irregularities denying beneficiaries their rightful dues.

In fact, in February this year, ahead of the budget, the HelpAge India and the Agewell Foundation, two NGOs work-ing for elderly people, had asked for a more inclusive budget that keeps in mind the welfare of the elderly.

The lack of financial independence forces senior citizens to depend on their children. More often it leads to distress with-in families. Many elderly people are abandoned by their chil-dren as they either can't or don't want to take care of them. Unfortunately, the elderly population is treated as a "burden by their families, society and the government" without any support system for them to lean on.

Ageism is a huge deterrent

Murthy wants to work and earn till he can. His inspiration is Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, who as an 81-year-old star is one of the busiest actors in the industry. "Age is just a number. We should never judge a person's ability, discipline or hard work based on his/her age," says Murthy.

Anjali Acharya, 66, a retired bank employee from Kolkata, adds that ageism exists everywhere. "It has been more than six years, I am looking for a job. I have qualifications and experience but my age is a deterrent. Prospective employers have told me I am old and I need to rest. But I need a job to run my house. I am a single woman and I don't have enough savings."

Like Acharya, Phukan has been told by schools where she had applied for a job she was old. "They told me I am bura (old). Why do I need to work? I was hurt and demoralised. This is how society relegates old people to the background."

Where are the jobs?

The problem of unemployment is not limited to the senior citizens. Even young, educated and skilled people are not getting hired. Economists say India is witnessing a "jobless economy", where the economy grows but the number of jobs remains the same or decreases.

As per the data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Econ-omy (CMIE), an independent think tank, the unemployment rate in India stood at 9.2 per cent in June 2024. It’s a sharp increase from 7 per cent in May 2024.

According to the India Employment Report 2024, by the Institute for Human Development and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), India's working population increased from 61 per cent in 2011 to 64 per cent in 2021. It is projected to reach 65 per cent in 2036. However, youth involvement in economic activities declined to 37 per cent in 2022.