As Thailand becomes an ageing society and faces the looming prospect of a shrinking workforce, moves to extend the age of retirement now seem inevitable.
The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) earlier this year launched a report which indicated a substantial demographic change, with the percentage of the population aged 60 and older exceeding 10%.
The number of elderly people now stands at 11.2 million, or 17%. Next year they will outnumber the young for the first time.
The data suggested a big decline in the working age population, which would affect both the public and private sectors. This calls for a plan to minimise the negative impact on economic growth and productivity over the long term.
In responding to the declining size of the workforce, the national reform committee on social issues this week proposed the retirement age for state officials be increased from 60 to 63.
The proposal is just that. Nothing has been set in stone, as the committee stressed it is not yet clear how such an extension could be introduced, and that more discussions must be held. Public hearings on the plan are slated to begin next week.
While allowing people to work longer seems an inescapable fact of fate, careful consideration from all sides is needed to ensure there is a smooth transition.
Before the plan is implemented, the bureaucratic system must be thoroughly reformed to make it more efficient and modern.
All of the flaws that have hindered bureaucratic reform efforts since 2002 must be fixed before the plan takes effect.
If not, we will be stuck with a sluggish, red tape-obsessed bureaucracy that cannot cope with fresh challenges and a civil manpower budget that is unrealistically high.
Despite these concerns, the committee seems to have made a positive start by suggesting the proposal does not include military personnel.
Such a stance should be praised as there has been talk about the need to downsize the armed forces for quite some time. However, no concrete action has followed.
The armed forces are oversupplied with personnel as it is -- bloated with three- and four-star officers who have no clear assignments -- but little effort has been made to address and fix this problem.
Back in 2012, then-defence minister Sukumpol Suwanatat came up with the idea of streamlining the armed forces. As he rightly noted, a plan was needed to slash the number of generals, which at that time had reached a staggering 1,600, to save the national budget.
But it appears the plan has stalled, and perhaps even been abandoned.
Earlier this year, the Defence Ministry announced a 10-year modernisation plan for the armed forces to boost their ability to deal with new security threats.
Strangely, the plan does not address trimming the fat in terms of personnel. Worse, military spending has soared tremendously in light of recent procurement projects.
Likewise, civil administration also needs to be downsized.
Those involved in such plans should be aware of the immediate impact the retirement age extension plan is likely to have.
They should learn from any agencies that have adopted the plan to cope with manpower shortages, like the judiciary, and avoid problems related to the promotion process, recruitment, or the welfare system.
For example, more new graduates will struggle to find jobs if the retirement age goalposts are changed.
As such, this requires a comprehensive and long-term policy on managing human resources to serve the bigger goal of making Thai bureaucracy more efficient.
The panel should also consider the views of outsiders and listen to those who are going to be the most affected by the plan, should it be implemented.
