Is 60 truly the perfect endpoint of a working life? This question is becoming ever more pressing as Thailand and the broader ASEAN region rapidly transition into a “Super-Aged Society.” The economic and social structures that were once driven by a young workforce are facing mounting pressure. This is not merely a fiscal crisis or a social welfare burden — it is a pivotal moment that calls for a collective effort to revive the potential of an experience-rich human resource and restore it as a core engine of growth.

Key Points

• The “Age Wall”: Approximately 77% of formal-sector organizations in Thailand enforce a mandatory retirement age of 60, prematurely removing skilled and healthy individuals from the labor market.
• Worker Preferences: Surveys indicate that a significant majority of workers aged 50–60 desire to remain employed beyond age 60, with a strong preference for transitioning to part-time, “phased” work arrangements as they grow older.
• Employer Barriers: Businesses express concerns regarding the physical capacity of older workers, a perceived lack of digital and AI proficiency, and the inadequacy of current tax incentives, which only apply to low-wage employment.
• Need for Policy Reform: The report calls for a shift toward voluntary, mutually agreed-upon retirement arrangements that accommodate the specific needs of different industries.
• Proposed Solutions:
  • Implementing a new legal framework to prevent age discrimination and provide targeted upskilling for workers aged 50–60.
  • Updating labor laws to support flexible, hourly employment models.
  • Enhancing tax incentives to encourage the hiring and retention of high-skilled older workers and offering income tax exemptions for employees over 60 who remain in the formal workforce.

These concerns are echoed in the preliminary findings of the study “Promoting Happy Ageing in ASEAN: Enhancing Health, Security, and Social Participation,” a collaboration among the ASEAN Centre for Active Ageing and Innovation (ACAI), the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP), and the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI). The study aims to present pathways for promoting social participation and income security through employment, with the overarching goal of advancing happy ageing.

Among the proposed solutions for navigating an ageing society is a call for both the public and private sectors to revisit the Mandatory Retirement Age (MRA) — moving away from the fixed cut-off of 60 years toward a more flexible system — while championing the employment innovation of “Phased Retirement” to retain skilled workers and ensure income security for older workers.

The “Age Wall”: A Barrier to Quality Ageing

A survey of 1,573 formal-sector workers in government agencies, state enterprises, and private organizations aged 50–60 years across Thailand found that the current retirement structure remains largely “rigid age cutoffs.” Over 77% of organizations enforce a mandatory retirement age fixed at exactly 60, which has become a significant barrier forcing workers who are still healthy, skilled, experienced, and willing to work to exit the labor market prematurely.

Notably, 1 in 4 respondents expected to continue working after the mandatory retirement age — particularly those in elementary occupations and technical trades — wishing to work until around 62–63 years of age, driven by income necessity and a desire to remain socially engaged.

Workers Want a Gradual Retirement

The study paints an even clearer picture. Respondents do not wish to stop working entirely upon reaching 60 years old. Instead, they prefer a “phased retirement” model. The survey found that at age 55, 99% of respondents still wished to work full-time, with an average expected working week of 39 hours.

At age 60, 91.3% still wanted to continue working, though increasingly shifting toward part-time arrangements, with an average expected working week of 30 hours. By age 65, over 73.9% still had a desire to work — predominantly part-time — with an average expected working week of 18 hours.

Employers Concerned About Digital Skills and Ineffective Incentives

From the employer’s perspective, most indicated a willingness to retain older workers on a voluntary basis. However, employers raised concerns in three key areas:

Health and safety constraints: Employers are concerned about the mismatch between job demands and the physical condition of older workers, as well as the risk of workplace accidents if older employees continue in the same roles without job redesign. Without appropriate adaptation, this poses risks to both the individual worker and overall business efficiency. 

Digital skills and AI gap: Employers perceive older workers as struggling to adapt to digital technology and AI systems — which are no longer optional but essential for business survival. This lag in adaptation is seen as a “productivity loss” unless the government steps in to bridge the gap through intensive upskilling and reskilling programs.

Cost trap and incentivising tax measures: The current double-deduction tax incentive for employing older workers is capped at a monthly salary of only 15,000 baht. This is a critical limitation in employers’ eyes. They think that the benefit cannot be fully utilised when hiring high-skilled older workers, who typically command salaries well above this ceiling. In effect, the measure incentivises only low-skill employment.

Policy Recommendations for Happy Ageing

To address the “rigid” mandatory retirement age (MRA) and structural barriers, the document proposes the following:

• Shift from Mandatory to Voluntary Criteria: Moving away from fixed retirement ages of 60 toward flexible, mutually agreed-upon arrangements between employers and employees based on the specific nature of the work.
• Development of a Legal Framework: Establishing a dedicated legal framework for older worker employment that includes:
  • Anti-age-discrimination protections.
  • Legislative revisions to accommodate flexible working arrangements and hourly employment in the formal sector.
• Support for “Phased Retirement”: Designing work arrangements that allow for a gradual reduction in working hours as employees age, while ensuring these workers maintain essential benefits and protections.
• Targeted Upskilling/Reskilling Programs: Implementing government-led initiatives to close the digital and AI skill gaps for workers aged 50–60 to ensure they remain productive and relevant in an evolving workplace.

Flexible retirement criteria: Shift from fixed mandatory retirement ages to voluntary, mutually agreed arrangements between employers and employees based on the nature of work, in order to reduce the loss of skilled and experienced personnel.

Flexible employment frameworks: Establish a dedicated legal framework for older worker employment, with anti-age-discrimination protections and targeted upskilling support to close digital and AI skill gaps for workers aged 50–60.

Promote phased retirement: Encourage government authorities, employers and relevant stakeholders to design working arrangements that allow hours to be gradually reduced as workers age, while maintaining essential protections and benefits. Labor laws should also be revised to accommodate flexible working arrangements and hourly employment for older workers in the formal sector.

Improve tax measures for tangible results: Enhance tax benefits to make it genuinely worthwhile for employers to adapt working environments and introduce incentives such as income tax exemptions for employees aged 60 and above who choose to continue working in the formal economy.

Redesigning life after 60 is not just a matter of economic systems or social welfare frameworks. It is a question of national human resource management. If we can break down the rigid walls of outdated regulations and replace them with flexible policies that recognize the diversity of older workers’ skills, experience, and capabilities, we can transform older people from “benefit recipients” into “economic drivers” who are both secure and fulfilled.

The real question, then, is not whether 60-year-olds should stop working — but whether Thai society is ready to let them keep going.

Kanyapak Ngaosri  is a researcher at the Thailand Development and Research Institute (TDRI).Their policy analyses appear in the Bangkok Post on 6 May 2026. 

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