Silver-haired taxi drivers are coming! Many places relax age restrictions for employment
Another place is offering taxi "silver hair service". Starting from June 13, Ningbo will try to extend the validity period of taxi driver qualification certificates to 65 years old, encouraging drivers who have reached the statutory retirement age and meet the conditions to continue to register. Previously, the upper age limit for local "taxi drivers" was 60 years old for men and 50 years old for women.
The Paper found that Hangzhou, Weifang, Kunming, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Huzhou and other places have issued regulations to increase the age limit for taxi drivers to 65 years old. In 2016, Hangzhou piloted the relaxation of the age limit for taxi drivers to 65 years old, and two years later, it was clarified in the "Hangzhou Passenger Taxi Management Regulations". According to the "Weifang Taxi Operation and Service Management Regulations" implemented in August 2022, the age limit for taxi drivers will be relaxed from no more than 60 years old for men and no more than 55 years old for women to no more than 65 years old. In October last year, the "Huzhou Passenger Taxi Management Regulations" were issued, extending the age limit for applying for a driver's qualification certificate to 65 years old.
The Ningbo Transportation Bureau said that extending the validity period of taxi driver qualification certificates is "in line with the trend of aging." A staff member of the city's Taxi Association told The Paper that the average age of local taxi drivers is over 50, and those under 30 are rare.
According to a 2021 report by "China Traffic Online", National People's Congress representative Zhuang Yan proposed that due to the gradual deepening of aging, the number of young drivers has gradually decreased, which cannot meet the market's natural demand for taxi drivers. In many places, it is difficult to find drivers. It is recommended to relax the age limit for drivers.
On the other hand, as life expectancy increases, many drivers who have reached statutory retirement age are in good health. According to Hangzhou.com, Hangzhou raised the length of service for taxi drivers, mainly in consideration of the general improvement in the physical fitness of the general public, some drivers still want to continue to serve the society after retirement, and companies also have a demand for employment. Since the relaxation of the length of service, by October last year, the average age of taxi drivers in Hangzhou was around 40 years old, with 1.10% of men over 60 years old and 0.17% of women over 55 years old.
Some practitioners also want to continue driving taxis for economic reasons. According to reports, during this year's National People's Congress, Gong Xuefeng, a member of the National People's Congress and a dangerous goods transport driver of Hohhot Shijie Gas Co., Ltd., submitted a proposal to relax the age limit for taxi practitioners, arguing that many drivers' income is the main source of family income, and many drivers are in good health and have rich experience, and have the ability to continue serving passengers.
Not only the traditional taxi industry, but also the online car-hailing industry has begun to adjust the age limit for drivers. According to reports, Cao Cao Travel has adjusted the age limit for direct-operated drivers in Chengdu, and anyone with a C1 or higher driver's license, more than three years of driving experience, good health, and under 65 years old can sign up. Previously, Cao Cao Travel had an age limit for recruiting drivers, especially for direct-operated online car-hailing drivers, who were no older than 55 years old.
According to a report by Upstream News in October last year, "T3 Travel" recruited 1,000 senior drivers aged 60-65 in Chengdu, Qingdao, Nanjing and other places for the first time, providing onboarding guidance, special training, etc. The relevant person in charge said that such drivers are experienced and have a strong desire for re-employment. They hope to provide employment opportunities for the elderly who need to find jobs through targeted recruitment, and also provide reference for breaking the age limit for employment.
The 2022 Retirement and Re-employment Survey Report for the Elderly released by 51job.com shows that 68% of the elderly have a strong desire to re-employ after retirement. Among them, 46.7% return to the job market to seek personal and social value, and 19% hope to use their skills and continue to pursue career development.
Taxi "silver hair service" has already appeared in Singapore, Japan and other places. According to China Economic Net, since June 2012, the retirement age of Singaporean taxi drivers has been extended from 73 to 75. Drivers approaching 73 years old must undergo annual health check-ups, occupational therapist assessments and driving assessments. After passing each inspection item, the driver's license will be renewed for one year. According to a report by China National Radio in October last year, the average age of Japanese taxi drivers is 58.6 years old. In Tokyo, the oldest driver employed by taxi companies is 75 years old.
According to Ningbo's new regulations, taxi drivers who have reached the statutory retirement age must meet several requirements when applying for renewal of their professional qualification certificates: pass the adaptability physical examination in the current year; register once a year, with the validity period renewed for one year each time; have a record of actual taxi operations in the past five years, and no road traffic accidents involving fatalities in the past three years.
"The demand for taxis and online car-hailing services will not drop significantly in the future - the demand is determined by the travel structure. Taxi travel in developed cities abroad accounts for about 2% of the travel structure, while in my country's large cities it is generally 6-7%." Wu Weiqiang, a professor at the School of Public Administration of Zhejiang University of Technology, told The Paper that there is no city in my country where public transportation dominates the transportation. The demand for taxis is still large and the price is relatively low. Due to high oil prices, the cost-effectiveness of taxis is sometimes higher than that of driving a private car. Urban space is also still expanding, and long-distance travel is increasing, which increases the demand for taxis. He said that moderately increasing the number of years of service for drivers can expand the labor supply of public services, while the working hours of older drivers should be controlled and their health should be paid attention to.
Some experts have also warned of the safety issues of "silver hair service". Wang Yunfei, associate professor of the School of Social and Political Science at Anhui University, said in an interview with "Top News" in October last year that extending the working years of taxi drivers should be based on ensuring public safety, paying more attention to their physical condition, conducting regular physical examinations, and issuing more detailed rules to strengthen their humanistic care and rights protection.
