Over 1000 Senior Citizens participated in Job Fair for Senior Citizens organized by Nightingales Empowerment Foundation on Sunday, 7th September 2025

7^th September 2025 –P.K.ANANTH KUMAR.

Nightingales Empowerment Foundation, Nightingales Medical Trust, in association with St Joseph’s University and Archdiocese of Bangalore, organized a Job Fair for Senior Citizens on Sunday, 7^th September 2025, from 10:00am to 04:00pm at the campus of St Joseph’s University, Langford Town, Bangalore.

Nightingale Empowerment Foundation is organizing a Free Job Fair for Senior Citizens on 7th September 2025 at St Joseph’s University, Langford road, Bengaluru, in collaboration with Nightingales Medical Trust, St Joseph’s University, and the Archdiocese of Bangalore.

Population ageing is a global phenomenon, and the number of people over 60 years of age has been rising rapidly across the world. India, too, is witnessing an exponential growth in the number and proportion of elderly people, coupled with increasing life expectancy and decreasing fertility rate. The country is already home to ~150 million older adults, the second largest older adult population in the world and the number is set to double to ~300 million by 2047. The growing elderly population poses a variety of challenges not only to elders and their families but also to society.

One of the biggest challenges faced by elders in India is financial insecurity. Out of nearly 15 crore senior citizens in India, about 75% are financially dependent and 89% have no pension coverage. Data from Elders Helpline – 1090 (a joint project of Bengaluru City Police and Nightinagales Medical Trust) revealed that elders who are dependent on others for their livelihood are more vulnerable to neglect and abuse, deprived of a life of dignity. There is a steep increase in the complaints related to financial issues faced by senior citizens. In 2023-24 around 10% of the complaints were related to financial issues and in 2024-25 it increased to over 22% , pointing to the growing level of financial insecurity among senior citizens .Employment after 60 not only provides financial independence but also gives elders a sense of purpose and improved quality of life.

Answering to this need, Nightingales Medical Trust established an innovative project, Nightingales Jobs 60+ in 2011 with the aim 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. A well-appointed Job Portal allows elderly job seekers to connect directly to employers. This program enables non-pensioned elderly to maintain their livelihood through being independent and have a life of dignity.

Annual job fairs are held annually to help a large number of senior job seekers meet with potential employers face-to-face. The 10^th Job Fair, held on Sun 7^th September saw 60 employers with over 630 job vacancies mainly from engineering, marketing, administration, accounts, supervisory, security, and other categories, and over 500 opportunities for self- employment through insurance streams. Around 1000 senior Citizens participated in the job fair. Over 348 elders were short listed by the participating employers and 58 elders were selected on the spot.

The Inaugural Program was held at 11:00am. Archbishop of Bengaluru The Most Rev. Dr. Peter Machado was the Chief Guest. He spoke eloquently about the needs of the elderly and expressed delight to have been part of this program. The dais also had the presence of Father George Negomias, Secretary to the Archbishop, Father Anthony Mahendran, Secretary of Labour Commission in Archdiocese of Bangalore, Father Martin Kumar, Chancellor.,Dr Radha S Murthy and Shri Premkumar Raja, co-founders of Nightingales Medical Trust and Mr. Amarnath Kamat and Mr Pankaj Lakhani, Trustees of Nightingales Medical Trust.

Seniors still looking for jobs can log on to www.nightingalesjobs60plus.com to submit their details and we will make all efforts to find suitable placement. Employers willing to employ seniors are welcome to get in touch with us as well.

S Premkumar                                                                                                              Dr. Radha S Murthy              

Secretary                                                                                                                      Managing Trustee

Nightingales Medical Trust                                                                                      Nightingales Medical Trust