Josephine Teo
Singapore
“The Government's risk-calibrated approach to data security in artificial intelligence (AI) systems was explained in a written reply, given on 9 January 2024, to related questions asked by Dr Tan Wu Meng and Mr Gerald Giam.”
“Access to frontier models is helpful for specific use cases, such as advanced research and cybersecurity. However, these form a small proportion of artificial intelligence (AI) demand. For most industry, Government and research uses, capable models are already available.”
“The Government tracks the development of technical standards for identifying artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content, including watermarking and digital provenance approaches, as part of broader efforts to manage AI-related risks.”
“Upon receiving a valid report of intimate image abuse, the Commissioner of Online Safety is empowered by law to direct Online Service Providers (OSPs) to disable access by Singapore users to the specified harmful online material. This direction may be extended to cover identical copies found on the platform.”
“The Government is committed to keeping children safe online. We have announced plans to extend age assurance requirements to designated social media services, including requiring platforms to keep users under 13 off their services.”
“Under the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025, the Commissioner of Online Safety is empowered to issue directions to platforms to remove specified harmful content, including intimate image abuse.”
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“Mr Speaker, I appreciate Mr Desmond Choo's concern. I was in MOT when we encouraged many Singaporean youths to take up opportunities in this sector because we considered the growth prospects to be very promising. Singapore is booming as an air hub and we are working very hard to allow our air hub to recover and I certainly hope that the situation stabilises to the point where there is better clarity to all the young people who have taken on opportunities in these sectors for training. The situation is quite interesting. Since Mr Choo asked, I had also enquired what about internships right now as they give a useful indication as to the adaptation that we can make. If we take Aerospace Engineering, for example, for the current cohort that need to go for internships, about half have still been able to secure internships that are related to their discipline of study, meaning that they are interning in roles that are related to Aerospace Engineering. So, that is a good thing. Of course, it would be better if all of them were to be able to do so. But, given the circumstances where the companies' activities have gone down a lot, that would not be realistic. But half of them still being able to get such an internship is not bad. The other half, what have we done? We have not given up on helping them. Their skills in engineering are actually very widely usable in other sectors. In manufacturing. for example, there is great value in applying the disciplines of Aerospace Engineering. So, with the combined efforts of different agencies coming together, in fact, all of them have been able to secure internship positions, not all of them in Aerospace Engineering but, in the other areas, it is also very meaningful way for them to acquire experience before they graduate.”
“And whenever there are cases where they felt that they were not fairly considered, we would encourage them to approach MOM and we will reach out to the employer to understand how to support them better so that all jobseekers know that they are being considered fairly.”
“Mr Speaker, if the Member, Assoc Prof Jamus Lim knows of instances where an older person has been discriminated against for jobs, I would encourage him to refer them to MOM. We will certainly investigate. By and large, if you look at how we help jobseekers, whether they are younger or not so young, if they want to get back into the same job role or same sector which has already seen quite a lot of displacements, then the barriers will be quite high because the fact that they were displaced does suggest that, in that particular sector, it is already not doing so well. So, it is not targeted specifically only at more senior jobseekers. All jobseekers will benefit from keeping an open mind and being willing to consider transiting into other sectors. One thing that we have found to be quite encouraging is that where the senior workers are willing just like any other jobseeker or jobseekers of any other age and the employees can see the enthusiasm and the willingness to learn, actually, quite a large number of them have been able to take part in our conversion programmes and to enter new job roles or new sectors. I have very often encountered participants in our Professional Conversion Programmes or our Place-and-Train programme who are in their late 50s and even in their early 60s. The oldest participant in a PCP programme that I have encountered, if my memory serves me right, was something like 67 years old. So, more and more, we also find that employers recognise that if they are open to hiring people who bring with them very rich experiences, then, in fact, they serve as a mentor to the younger colleagues in the organisation and they actually work well together. But having said that, I do recognise that seniors have concerns about ageism.”
“But it can also work against him later on when the companies then look at the entire workforce and find that, perhaps, compared to their younger colleagues, the senior workers are much more highly paid and, if they do not make a concerted effort to work with the unions to restructure the salary accordingly, then, later on, when it comes to continued employment, that actually could be a difficulty. It is also why, instead of just raising the statutory minimum Retirement Age, we have chosen to complement it with the Re-employment Age because, in re-employment, you can get a person to stay in work but not necessarily in the same job and not necessarily at the same pay. This way, it allows for the employer and the senior workers to reset the terms upon which they can continue this employment.”
“Mr Speaker, if at all, many employers are worried about the higher cost of keeping the seniors in their workforce simply because, over the years, as they have gained in experience and if the company has been doing reasonably well, usually, there are wage increases. It has tended to be more of that sort of nature of difficulties. There are, of course, also certain reasons why some seniors may not be able to move on to jobs that pay higher. That could be a question of their skills deficits. And one of the things that we have noticed, for example, is that when we were carrying out the work for the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers, more so than other segments of the workforce, seniors are very dependent on what their employers indicate to them are training needs. And apart from what the employers indicate as training needs, seniors are less likely to initiate training on their own. That may be one reason why it has been harder for them to access a wider range of jobs. But for the same work, actually, the bigger risk has been that the seniors, not necessarily having a lot more skills and competencies, earn more. So, we have, over the years, worked very hard to try and encourage companies to move towards a competency-based wage structure rather than a seniority-based wage structure. A seniority-based wage structure certainly gives an individual the sense of comfort that, as he advances with the company, he is being recognised.”
“We are actually prepared to fund a consultant coming on board to help them think through the job redesign process. So, we will continue to look for opportunities to strengthen our companies' abilities to conduct job redesign because, if you look at our senior employment rate, it has actually improved over the decades. We want to make sure that we build on these gains. Seniors also tell us that they wish to continue working and job redesign is one part of it; skills enhancement is another part of it. And another very practical thing that seniors also tell us is that whilst they want to continue working, it may not be to the same intensity as before. So, in addition to job redesign, we have also invested in efforts to ask companies to see how those jobs can be designed in such a way that even on a part-time basis the seniors can continue. So, we will continue to look out for more opportunities to enhance senior employment.”
“Mr Speaker, I really thank Mr Sharael Taha for his concerns about our senior workers. They have been very much a focus of my Ministry's work. The hon Member mentioned that in the Industry Transformation Maps or ITMs, can we make special emphasis and give special consideration to this group of workers. In fact, the ITM has a very deliberate track called the jobs and skills track that looks at different segments of our workforce, whether they are the low-wage workers or seniors or PMEs or women. Actually, there are specific work programmes that are targeted at enabling each of these segments to stay productive at work and also to upskill them so that, if they so wish, they can remain in the workforce. There are specific work streams to address each of these workforce segments. To his question about whether we can get the employers to step up their redesign efforts, it is very much aligned with the Government's thinking. Our experience is that for the companies that already have a very large segment of their workforce that are in their 40s, 50s and perhaps even older, these companies do recognise the need for them to step up in terms of redesigning the work. They know very well that when their seniors retire and if the seniors retire because not enough effort has been put into redesigning the workplace, then they stand to lose a very valuable part of the workforce. I have actually visited a lot of companies that are quite deliberate in how they go about doing so. The issue is not so much willingness; the issue is much more about the ability to do so, which is why under the Productivity Solutions Grant, we decided to add in an additional element. Meaning that the companies need not only depend on their own understanding of how to do job redesign.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank Ms Pereira for her two questions. The second one, our career coaches are already equipped with a number of languages. So, if they come across a client whom they have difficulty conversing with because of the language barrier, they will certainly refer the client to another colleague, in order to be able to provide the requisite assistance to the jobseeker. To the question of hotlines, WSG has manned phone lines for jobseekers who would like to dial in for more information or who wish to seek further assistance. These are available from Mondays to Fridays between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, as well as on Saturdays from 8.30 am to 1 pm. Jobseekers may also submit their enquiries via WSG's feedback portal. But I would like to thank Ms Pereira for her suggestion and that is to make this line more readily known so that jobseekers know that this is an avenue that they can also look for. So, I thank her for the suggestions and I will work with WSG to see how best to do so.”
“The IHLs are also introducing new electives for students to equip them with emerging cross-sector skills such as data analytics and visualisation, programming as well as digital marketing – skills which are sought after generally. As a pre-emptive move to supplement job availability, the Government introduced the SGUnited Traineeships Programme which has curated more than 21,000 traineeship places from about 3,300 host organisations. In general, employers are open to accepting good candidates across a range of disciplines. Candidates will also have better opportunities if they are open to trying out positions outside of the disciplines they are trained in, or look beyond positions that many applicants have focused on. We will continue to watch the situation closely and adjust the programme accordingly. Mr Speaker, I understand the challenges that workers and jobseekers are facing at this time. Advance estimates for the third quarter show a rebound in local employment. Although there may still be retrenchments and job losses, it is not all gloom and doom. Pockets of businesses are recovering and hiring, and we will make every effort to help affected Singaporeans get back to work. This is what they usually want and central to how we sustain support for Singaporeans on an on-going basis.”
“The Government will underwrite 50% of their salaries, up to the first $5,000, for 12 months. This comes on top of the Special Employment Credit for workers aged 55 and above. Where seniors need skills top-ups to be recruited or retraining to support business transformation, the level of funding is generally higher. Employers that formalise a higher retirement age or part-time re-employment in their HR policies can also enjoy grant support. These initiatives together help to address employers' concerns about the cost of seniors in their workforce and the practical adjustments they must make to have age-friendly workplaces. In every way possible, we will try to enhance the attractiveness of seniors so they can keep working if they wish. Mr Desmond Choo is looking ahead to next year. He asks what is being done to prepare students majoring in aerospace-, aviation- and hospitality-related disciplines who are graduating in 2021. Like Mr Choo, we are closely monitoring the employment outcomes of graduating students. MOE's Graduate Employment Survey for graduates in 2020 will be published in the first quarter of 2021. This will give some indication as to the prospects for the cohort graduating in 2021. In the meantime, the Institutes of Higher Learning or IHLs have started comprehensive career guidance and assistance programmes to prepare students who are graduating next year. In particular, they will get help to navigate adjacent career opportunities. Meaning, those that are not specifically targeted at their disciplines but adjacent to it. We are organising career fairs that feature job openings in adjacent sectors which will make good use of the graduates' education and skills.”
“This process takes longer for some jobseekers than others. Our career coaches will hand-hold the jobseekers while helping them find their footing and gain independence. Post-placement, our career coaches conduct check-ins to ensure that they are settling well into their new workplaces. WSG has also been proactively reaching out to all applicants for the COVID-19 Support Grant or CSG and, together with the MSF and the People's Association, to families living in rental housing. Households that need employment assistance are referred to WSG. Through these targeted outreach efforts, about 6,000 individuals have taken up our career matching services, which may include one-to-one coaching for those less job-ready. Mr Sharael Taha asked how many senior workers have benefited from the WorkPro Job Redesign Grant or JRG. From scheme enhancement in July 2016 to grant closure in March 2020, the JRG benefited over 2,500 companies and 24,000 senior workers. With employers today having a better appreciation of job redesign to create more inclusive workplaces, we have discontinued WorkPro JRG. This does not mean there is no longer a need for job re-design, but it can be equally well-supported through the Enterprise Development Grant and Productivity Solutions Grant or PSG. In fact, the PSG will be further expanded later this year to support job redesign consultancy services, on top of companies' own job redesign efforts. Whether through the JRG or other programmes, the Government will provide a higher level of support to employers of seniors to help such workers stay in work. For example, the recently announced Jobs Growth Incentive provides employers of new hires aged 40 and above double the wage support for other new local hires.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank Members for their concerns about different groups of workers and jobseekers in the current economic climate. The Government is providing substantial employment support to help Singaporeans stay in work, such as through the Jobs Support Scheme and programmes to help them be re-skilled and redeployed to new roles. Through the National Jobs Council, we have curated about 117,500 jobs and skills opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package to help local jobseekers acquire new skills to move into new careers or sectors. Around 33,100 jobseekers have been placed thus far and the efforts are continuing. In this period of weakness in the job market, these efforts have been a very useful supplement to the normal recruitment activities that take place on their own. Ms Joan Pereira asked whether more personalised support can be given to jobseekers, especially low-wage workers. We appreciate this is not an easy time for jobseekers. To help them in their search, we have very quickly expanded the touchpoints to be readily accessible in every HDB town. When they first visit our touchpoints, jobseekers are provided with basic career advisory and job search assistance, and are also invited to take an assessment on their career readiness. Jobseekers may be assessed to require more intensive support before they are ready to start the job search, or may request for more support even if they are assessed to be ready. Such jobseekers are provided with one-to-one career coaching. Our career coaches provide tailored support to these jobseekers, which may include referring them to supplementary programmes, such as motivational or interview training workshops. At an appropriate time, career coaches will help them be matched to suitable opportunities.”
“Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 3, 4 and 5 together, Sir.”
“WSG and e2i also meet regularly at the senior leadership level to coordinate their strategy and operations. There are merits to having more than one provider in the employment facilitation ecosystem. It helps to spur innovation and improvements, and service models that can meet the varied needs of our local jobseekers. For example, Ingeus introduced a new way for companies to identify talent for senior executive-level roles. Ingeus asked these companies to provide problem statements. Selected jobseekers were then invited to address these problem statements, and in doing so, pitch and showcase their skills and expertise to the companies. This novel approach was well received by the companies and enhanced job matching. At the same time, it is important for WSG to retain operational knowledge of the business of job facilitation, so that it is able to oversee the ecosystem of providers and innovate new schemes effectively. WSG will continue to work closely with all its partners, to ensure that the needs of every local jobseeker are the foremost priority of each partner, and that they are collectively served to the best of each partner’s ability.”
“The mission of Workforce Singapore (WSG) is to provide job facilitation services and support the transformation of the local workforce and industry for the future economy. As part of its role, WSG's efforts range from providing digital job matching platforms (such as MyCareersFuture), the implementation of employment facilitation schemes (such as SGUnited Jobs and Traineeships, and Professional Conversion Programmes), and the direct provision of career coaching to clients. For direct client-facing functions, WSG has overall responsibility for designing the framework for service delivery, and the allocation of roles to strategic partners such as the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), private career matching providers (Ingeus and MAXIMUS), SGEnable (for Persons with Disabilities), and Yellow Ribbon Singapore (for ex-offenders). e2i brings certain strengths to the job facilitation ecosystem. e2i's strong connections with the labour movement allows it to leverage the unions' networks to provide support to workers, as well as to partner employers to recruit and train local jobseekers for their manpower needs. Of the five national career centres, three are operated directly by WSG, while another two are operated by e2i. The five centres serve different geographical areas, but clients are free to request for their cases to be served by another centre, or by the private career matching providers. For ground activities such as career fairs, WSG and e2i coordinate closely such that their activities complement each other's. WSG, e2i, Ingeus and MAXIMUS share the same jobseeker case management system. This allows all service providers to use the same common system, reaping economies of scale and providing a more seamless experience for the jobseeker.”
“IRAS uses data analytics and risk profiling to identify cases, which are sent to a dedicated team for review. We view any attempt to abuse grant schemes very seriously and will not hesitate to report any malpractices or abuses to the Police for investigation and possible prosecution.”
“Mr Speaker, the Jobs Growth Incentive or JGI, supports firms to accelerate the hiring of their local workforce over six months. JGI was announced in August 2020 and will be provided to qualifying hires from September 2020 to February 2021. Eligible local hires can attract salary support for up to 12 months. To be eligible for JGI, firms must achieve an increase in their local workforce size from the level in August 2020. Hence, a firm with no net growth of jobs will not receive JGI payouts. A firm that initially increased its local headcount but subsequently reduced its local headcount below its original level would also stop receiving future JGI payouts. In addition, to ensure that the increase in local workforce is meaningful, it must be accompanied by an increase in the number of local employees in jobs that pay at least $1,400 in gross monthly wages. There may be valid reasons why a firm that receives the JGI has to later let existing employees go, such as retirement or voluntary resignations. If we were to impose the condition that the firm promises not to let any worker go, that would create significant rigidity to the firm. In practice, firms would likely prefer to moderate their new hiring than have to deal with the risk of support being withdrawn. Hence, we take a practical approach, where a firm's JGI payout is reduced in proportion to the number of existing employees that left the firm after the scheme started in September 2020. This gives the firms assurance of funding support while signalling clearly that they should make the efforts to retain existing employees even as they bring in new hires. In addition, IRAS has put in place a robust anti-gaming framework to identify risks and prevent abuse.”
“Mr Speaker, there are a variety of jobs that are being made available. I mentioned earlier that total opportunities that have been curated under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package is about 117,000. Of these, 70% are jobs and the jobs are of different nature – some are long-term jobs, some are short-term jobs; some of these jobs are suitable for PMETs, some of these jobs are suitable for non PMETs. At the satellite Career Centres, as is the case for all the other touchpoints we have with jobseekers, all these jobs can be made available. For some of the non PMET jobseekers, we understand, for example, language may be a barrier. So, even in these career-resourcing centres, there are colleagues who speak Mandarin or speak other languages that will be of help to these jobseekers. So, there is a variety. The Member is incorrect to think that most of the jobs that have been matched are for PMETs. Our experience is that matching people into PMET jobs takes longer. The reason is very simple: if you are a PMET, you see yourself as having a set of skills that you would like to find the best match for in an employer that recognises your experience and is also able to pay a premium for those skills that you have. It has actually been easier to match people in non PMET roles. I do not have the numbers offhand, but I can assure you that the matching for non PMET has actually been the majority of those under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the hon Member for his concern. Indeed, we are following up closely with the companies to have a sense of what they are thinking of for the future. I would say that if you look at the range of opportunities that have been made available, quite clearly, a lot of the companies are looking ahead into the future and seeing that this is a good time to expose more jobseekers to their industries or to the jobs that previously were perhaps less well sought after by the jobseekers. So, they do have that objective in mind. As to whether they can follow through to offer the trainees a specific job, an opening, probably will depend on two things: one, whether they see a need to fulfil that position on a permanent basis and that will depend on their assessment of the business outlook; second, I think they will also assess the specific trainee, whether during this period, the trainee has exhibited good ability to gel with the team as well as to contribute to the organisation. Some of the ways in which the Government is trying to be helpful and to nudge the employers in this direction is through the introduction of the Jobs Growth incentive. This Jobs Growth incentive, essentially, encourages employers to expand their hiring and if the wage support that is provided is able to provide that additional resourcing to the employers, they could also bring forward their hiring. That is what, we think, will potentially encourage the employers to think in that direction.”
“I should also add another point to Ms Carrie Tan's concern. SBF is one of the many partners that we work with. It is not the only one that is involved in this whole network that is trying to bring together jobseekers as well as companies that still have openings. Other trade associations and chambers are involved. The whole network of Career Centres, including the 24 in the HDB Towns that I mentioned earlier in my reply, are also involved. If you add all of them together, the resourcing has increased quite considerably. Today, if you look at the overall opportunities that have been curated, there are about 117,500. We have been able to place 33,000 or so. So, the opportunities are available. The next step as to whether the job matching can happen is no longer just a matter of facilitation. The jobseeker must feel that he wants the job; the employer must feel that he can give the jobseeker an opportunity. And that is not something that you bring about purely through more facilitation. Although, I will give the Member the assurance that if more resources are needed in that regard, certainly, we have no hesitation to enhance them.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank Ms Carrie Tan for her concern. In the beginning, SBF did encounter quite a lot of difficulties because it had responded to the opportunity to curate, to manage the SGUnited Traineeship programmes. It wanted very much to be of service to their members – meaning the companies that potentially can host these opportunities – as well as to jobseekers. So, I would acknowledge that in the earlier stages, it did take SBF quite a while to assemble the team and to process the applications from the host companies. I would also say that because the programme was very new at the time, what constitutes a meaningful traineeship experience, was something that was still being worked out. But, I am glad to say that by now, all these kinks have been ironed out. SBF certainly expanded their team and, as I had mentioned earlier in my reply, it will be at full strength by the end of this month. Right now, if you look at the total number of opportunities that have been made available, I think that period is past. Right now, the focus has to be on the companies making these opportunities available to jobseekers, letting the jobseekers know that they are interested to take in people as trainees or as mid-career attachments. Right now, the action is less on SBF and more on the companies to get this done. So, it is within the companies, their own HR teams that have to follow through with the approved positions, advertise the positions, collate the CVs, the interest that have been made known to them through various sources, and then, arrange for the interviews to take place as well as to make the selection and then follow through with SBF. So, right now, a lot of the action has to be undertaken by the host companies, themselves.”
“This is in spite of a two-month lockdown and the deep economic recession. We will continue to curate more opportunities while seeking to increase placements of jobseekers.”
“I had earlier updated the House that SBF undertakes a rigorous screening process and scrutinises each application to ensure that host organisations structure their traineeships and attachments appropriately with clear development plans, so that participants can have a positive and meaningful experience. How quickly an employer's application is approved depends in part on the comprehensiveness of its submission. Factoring in time for SBF to seek clarifications and enhancement, most applications are approved within four weeks. This is, however, not a key bottleneck right now as there are already many existing openings available to jobseekers. After suitable matches are found and necessary supporting documents are submitted to SBF, the traineeship or company attachment can commence. To help our local jobseekers access the available jobs and skills opportunities, we have brought career matching services closer to the heartlands. We have launched the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Centres in phases. Since early July and by end-August, one had been set up across all 24 HDB towns. Although all satellite career centres were only in operation from end-August, Career Ambassadors have advised about 4,200 jobseekers by now. Jobseekers are reached through multiple channels and assisted through a variety of means. It is therefore more useful to consider their collective impact. Between January and August this year, we have provided career matching services to about 44,200 jobseekers through the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Centres as well as WSG and NTUC's e2i's five permanent career centres. Since the launch of the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package in April 2020, we have placed 33,100 jobseekers into job, traineeship, attachment and training opportunities.”
“Thank you. The National Jobs Council is coordinating efforts to provide job, traineeship, attachment as well as training opportunities for jobseekers under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package. The SGUnited Traineeships and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programmes were introduced to provide company-hosted traineeship and attachment opportunities for recent graduates and mid-career jobseekers respectively. These programmes aim to help jobseekers who are unable to find permanent jobs in the current job market, gain industry-relevant skills and build professional networks so as to boost their employability. The SGUnited Traineeships Programme was launched on 1 June 2020, and the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme, on 1 August 2020. Workforce Singapore and its programme manager, the Singapore Business Federation or SBF, have worked closely with host companies to open up earlier-approved traineeship positions as company attachments for mid-career individuals under the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme as well. By now, over 20,500 traineeship and company attachment opportunities have been made available. The top five sectors which together account for more than half the openings are: financial services, infocomm technology and media, professional services, wholesale trade and electronics. More than 2,800 local jobseekers have been placed. Although the focus must now be for the host companies to secure more successful placements, SBF continues to accept new applications by companies to host attachments for mid-career individuals that commence before 31 March 2021. The SBF has a dedicated team of 25, of which 80% are filled and will be reaching full strength by end-October.”
“Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take Questions Nos 4 and 5 together?”
“Since the outbreak of COVID-19, many countries including Singapore have imposed travel restrictions and border controls. For work pass holders, entry approvals are limited to reduce the importation risk of COVID-19 cases and to protect public health. During the circuit breaker period, the Ministry approved 630 requests for foreign domestic workers (FDWs) mainly from Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar to enter Singapore, out of about 4,100 entry approval applications and appeals received.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recognises the importance of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) in helping workers to better manage both their work and personal responsibilities. We have continuously reviewed and enhanced our efforts to support the provision of FWAs. This includes progressively implementing the recommendations of the Citizens' Panel on Work-Life Harmony that were submitted last year, such as growing a community of Work-Life Ambassadors and developing sector-specific implementation guides on FWAs. Today, the vast majority of employees are benefitting from FWAs. In 2019, about 85% of employers offered some form of formal or ad-hoc FWAs.1 These numbers have increased during this COVID-19 period with employers being required to implement work-from-home and FWAs for safety of their workers. Post-Circuit Breaker, even as more workers are allowed to return to the workplace, the tripartite partners have called upon employers to not only stagger start times for their employees but also introduce flexible workplace hours as a norm. MOM will monitor the effects of the higher use of FWAs, and study the best ways to entrench best practices after COVID-19. We will consider the experience of other jurisdictions and work with tripartite partners to ensure the interests of both employees and employers are considered. In the meantime, we urge employers to press on and continue to implement work arrangements that enable employees to maintain work-life harmony while continuing to meet business needs.”
“The Workfare Income Supplement Scheme provides cash supplements and CPF top-ups that encourages eligible lower-income workers to work regularly and build up their CPF savings. Workfare boosts the incomes of these workers by up to 30 per cent. Payouts are generally higher for older workers. Persons with disabilities below age 35 can also receive Workfare. From 2017 to 2019, an annual average of about 400,000 employees and self-employed persons received Workfare. About 45,000 were aged 35 to 44, 85,000 were aged 45 to 54, 70,000 were aged 55 to 59 and 195,000 were aged 60 and above. Another 3,000 persons with disabilities below age 35 received Workfare. Workfare has been regularly reviewed since its launch in 2007. The qualifying income ceiling and payouts have been raised on four occasions. In fact, the maximum Workfare payout was just increased by up to 14 per cent starting from January this year. We will continue to review Workfare regularly to ensure the target groups are supported.”
“Since April this year, to lower the density in dormitories and risk of COVID-19 transmission, some dormitory residents have been moved out to Government temporary sites. More employers are also building new Construction Temporary Quarters (CTQs) and converting workplaces into Temporary Living Quarters (TLQs) to house their workers. This has led to a 30% reduction in the number of workers staying in current Purpose-Built Dormitories (PBDs) from 212,000 in April to 150,000 currently. From end September, the Government has progressively stood up new Quick-Built Dormitories (QBDs). In total, the new QBDs, temporary dormitories fitted out by the Government and new CTQs built by contractors will provide around an additional 60,000 bed capacity. The additional capacity will help maintain a sufficient supply of beds in the market and moderate any increase in bed rental prices as a result of the reduction in density in the dormitories. Feedback from employers and dormitory operators have indicated that dormitory bed rental prices have generally remained stable since pre-COVID. Where employers have experienced significant increases in asking rents, they may wish to consider available alternatives in other dormitories.”
“In the Construction and Process sectors, we encourage firms that wish to hire Work Permit holders from non-traditional source countries and China to do so up to their Man-Year Entitlements (MYE), so as to maintain manpower-lean operations. However, for firms that wish to hire additional workers beyond their MYE allocations, such workers should be experienced. This is why we require foreign workers to have at least three years of construction experience to qualify for MYE-waiver. Nevertheless, we are cognisant of the impact of COVID-19 on the Construction sector, and are prepared to consider requests to renew the work passes of Work Permit holders with less than three years of construction experience under the MYE-waiver, on a case-by-case basis.”
“In January this year, we also strengthened the Fair Consideration Framework for greater deterrence against all forms of workplace discrimination by raising administrative penalties across the board. Our seniors are important and are valued members of our workforce. We will continue to look out for them and support their employers' efforts to retain them. Mr Speaker, I appreciate Members for raising these important questions on retrenchments. Until the economy recovers more fully, we will maintain the stance of heightened vigilance on the job situation. Where retrenchment can be avoided through cost-cutting measures, we will keep a lookout for instances where the wage cuts cause excessive hardship to workers. In cases where MOM has intervened, employers that have the means have shown willingness to moderate their wage cuts. Where retrenchments cannot be avoided, we will watch out for Singaporeans, give full support to employers' efforts to retain them or to help them move into new jobs as quickly as possible. 1.04 pm”
“We have also expanded the SGUnited Skills programme which offers full-time training programmes ranging from six to 12 months. Mr Yip asked about the additional help for seniors who wish to continue working. For many decades, we have recognised employers' concerns about the cost of hiring and retaining them. With encouragement from the tripartite partners, many employers have therefore moved away from a seniority-based wage system to competency- or performance-based wage systems. Senior workers aged above 55 years have lower employer CPF contribution rates. The Government further provides the Special Employment Credit to employers to offset wages of Singaporeans aged 55 and above. Employers who redesign jobs to be better suited for senior workers can tap on the Productivity Solutions Grant. In more recent times, we observed that senior workers increasingly prefer to reduce their work intensity as they approach retirement. To encourage more employers to offer part-time opportunities for them and enable them to stay on in the workforce, we introduced the Part-time Re-employment Grant earlier this year that will provide up to $125,000 to companies that commit to a part-time re-employment policy. Through these measures, we have made good gains in senior employment. Our employment rate for residents aged 60 and above has increased from 27.2% in 2009 to 38.5% in 2019. During this period of economic uncertainty, the unemployment rate for locals aged 60 and over remains comparable to that of the overall workforce. Nonetheless, MOM recognises Mr Yip's concerns about ageism, especially in a slack job market. Singapore's employment laws protect employees against discriminatory employment practices, including wrongful dismissal on grounds of age.”
“Even amongst employees who were not eligible, almost half received some retrenchment payout. The question of whether a baseline retrenchment benefit should be legislated is not new and has also been debated in Parliament. The tripartite consensus, after extensive deliberation, is that it does not guarantee better outcomes for retrenched employees. The legislated baseline would likely become the default. Even when employers can afford to pay more, they would be unlikely to do so. On the other hand, setting a high baseline retrenchment benefit would strain the financial health of businesses that are already struggling, and potentially jeopardise their survival and the jobs of the remaining employees. With legislated retrenchment benefit, employers would also be less likely to offer long-term or permanent contracts to employees, and resort more to hiring employees on short-term contracts. Hence, while recognising the usefulness of retrenchment benefit and encouraging employers to pay according to the prevailing norms, we are even more focused on helping retrenched workers return to the workforce. Besides heavy subsidies for skills programmes, we provide substantial training and wage support to employers while their new hires undergo conversion programmes. During this period where hiring sentiments have weakened, we have significantly enhanced the support to local jobseekers. We introduced the Jobs Growth Incentive to spur employers to expand local hiring, with double the support for new hires aged 40 and above. We created the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme to help mid-career locals gain relevant work experience through attachments hosted by companies. This will position them to take up jobs later.”
“So, let me say that again. The Tripartite Advisory calls on employers to maintain a strong Singaporean Core even as they retrench. Based on MOM's investigation of retrenchment cases, businesses have generally taken heed of the advice and made serious efforts to retain Singaporeans in their workforce. Where retrenchments cannot be avoided, WSG will reach out to offer job assistance. In unionised companies, NTUC has sought to minimise their period of unemployment through its "lift and place" efforts, partnering with the Government. A good example is how Singapore crew members from SIA were helped to take up jobs in healthcare with funding support. Beyond efforts to help them stay in work which I will say more about later, Singaporeans also get extra support in social policies, such as education, training and healthcare. Schemes like Workfare and Silver Support, which help to boost incomes during work and in retirement, apply only to citizens. The Tripartite Advisory that Ms Lim asked about also stipulates that the prevailing norm is to pay a retrenchment benefit of between two weeks' and one month's salary per year of service, depending on the financial position of the company and industry practices. To the questions by Mr Louis Chua, the requirement to submit retrenchment notifications to MOM covers about 90% of the workforce and provides a broadly representative view. Based on notifications received between April and September this year, about two-thirds of the employees affected by retrenchment had at least two years of service with their employers and were eligible for retrenchment benefits. About nine in 10 of these eligible employees received some retrenchment benefit, of which about 84% received at least two weeks' salary per year of service.”
“Sir, Singaporeans are understandably concerned about retrenchments. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, retrenchments have risen and exceeded the peak observed in the SARS outbreak of 2003 but are still lower than during the Global Financial Crisis of 2009. Nonetheless, MOM is monitoring closely. In the first half of 2020, the incidence of local retrenchment was 4.9 per 1,000 local employees. To the question by Mr Yip Hon Weng, the incidence of local retrenchment for senior workers aged 60 and above was generally comparable, at 5.2 per 1,000 local employees. As for employees on fixed-term contracts, they constitute about 8% of all employees in the workforce. The number of contracts not renewed in the first half of 2020 has remained stable compared to the second half of 2019. MOM does not have data on non-renewals of contracts by age groups. To the question by Ms Sylvia Lim, the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment – which I will henceforth refer to as the Tripartite Advisory – this emphasises retrenchment as a last resort, only after employers have exhausted non-wage-related and wage-related cost-savings measures. The advisory sets out expectations for employers when they have to retrench staff. The main goal of the retrenchment must be to give the business the best chance of survival or continued long-term viability, without which both the employer and all employees are worse-off, even if they were not retrenched. Selection of employees to be retrenched should be based on objective criteria, with primary considerations given to employee merit and preserving skills to help the business keep going. In addition, the Tripartite Advisory calls on employers to maintain a strong Singaporean Core even as they retrench.”
“Mr Speaker, may I seek your permission to take Question Nos 18 to 20 together?”
“The Dependants’ Protection Scheme (DPS) is a term-life insurance scheme that provides insured members and their families with a sum of money to tide them over the initial period should the insured members pass away, suffer from terminal illness or total permanent disability. As of December 2019, about 1 in 5 CPF members between age 21 and 60 are not insured under DPS. This can be due to a variety of reasons. For example, some members chose to opt out as they have no dependants, have similar private insurance coverage, or have sufficient CPF or other savings set aside for bequest. There are also a small number of members who could not meet the underwriting requirements. Automatic inclusion under DPS is only extended to active members who are making regular CPF contribution from work as income protection for these members is likely to be more critical if they have dependants. A regular income also helps these members maintain sufficient CPF balances to keep up with DPS premiums. Members who are not automatically included but wish to be covered can apply directly to private insurers for DPS coverage. Their DPS premiums can be paid using their available CPF savings or cash. From 1 April 2021, the maximum age of DPS coverage will be increased to cover members up to age 65. Members aged 60 and above but below 65 years, whose DPS covers have ceased or will cease before 1 April 2021, can rejoin DPS by applying directly with the appointed insurer.”
“In determining punitive actions for illegal deployment, MOM's key considerations are the degree to which the well-being of the Foreign Domestic Worker has been compromised, and the extent of the illegal deployment. Ms Parti Liyani's case of illegal deployment was handled by the Ministry of Manpower in accordance with these considerations. At the conclusion of MOM's investigations in May 2018, in consultation with the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), the Ministry took no further action against Mr Liew. A Caution was issued to Mrs Liew, and an Advisory Notice to Mr Karl Liew. The actions taken against the three individuals were in line with actions taken in past similar cases. From 2017 to 2019, there were an average of 550 complaints of illegal deployment each year. Of these, MOM took actions against an average of 155 employers per year for illegally deploying their Foreign Domestic Workers. About 60 of them were issued with an Advisory Notice. 80 were issued with a Caution. On average, 16 employers were issued with financial penalties each year, ranging from $3,300 to $24,000. There is a review ongoing for this particular case, arising from the High Court's observations. MOM will give an update when the review is completed.”
“MOM takes a multi-pronged approach to ensure accurate addresses are declared for foreign workers. First, we hold employers responsible for reporting accurate residential addresses of their foreign workers. They are required to do so in the Online Foreign Worker Address Service. Employers remain responsible even when their workers source for their own accommodation. The online service ensures the occupancy limit of the address is not exceeded, and it also checks against tenancy registration records from the Housing and Development Board to ensure that the foreign worker is registered as a tenant by the homeowner. Second, MOM introduced the Foreign Worker Tenant Enquiry System in December 2018 to help detect misuse of home addresses. Homeowners can use the system to check the details of foreign workers registered at their address, and report to MOM if there are discrepancies. A significant increase in the number of false declaration cases were detected this way, explaining the increase in number of cases in 2019 from the previous year. The Foreign Worker Tenant Enquiry System also allows homeowners to block their addresses in the system to prevent any registration of foreign workers. Table 1 shows the number of cases from 2015 to 2019 involving false declaration of residential addresses as housing addresses for foreign workers. This includes cases reported by homeowners as well as proactive inspections by MOM. When cases of false declaration of residential addresses are detected, employers and workers involved will be investigated. Culpable employers will be barred from hiring foreign workers and workers who knowingly provided false information will have their work passes revoked.”
“Labour force participation for a given group informs us of the percentage of persons (working or not working) who are participating in the labour force. But since individuals without work do not draw an income, labour force participation cannot be measured by income deciles. However, over the past five years, our overall female labour force participation rate for those with younger children has risen. Refer to Table 1 for the breakdown. On this front, Singapore fares well internationally. Our overall female labour force participation rate for those with at least one child aged below six was ranked amongst the top five OECD countries in 2018, the latest year for which comparison data is available 1.”
“FDWs who are illegally deployed should step forward to report their cases to MOM. Those who are assisting in MOM investigations will not be repatriated. The Ministry will assist affected FDWs to look for temporary employment or transfer to another employer during and after the investigation is completed. There have also been instances where FDWs made unsubstantiated complaints against their employers. This is why it is important for MOM to hear both sides and investigate, so as to arrive at a fair conclusion.”
“Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) generally should perform household and domestic duties only at the residential address stated in the work permit. With the consent of the FDW, an employer can deploy the FDW to perform household duties at a relative's house to look after the employer’s child or aged parent under the supervision of the relative. In such situations, the employer is required to inform the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) of any such arrangements made, and must ensure that the FDW does not perform the full load of housework in both households. This approach balances the interest and well-being of the FDW and accommodates variations in household living arrangements in a practical way. The rules concerning how FDWs can be deployed are published in the FDW's Guidebook (which is given out to all first-time FDWs) and in the FDW Employer's Guide (which employers can download from MOM's website). During the FDW Settling-in Programme (SIP), first-time FDWs are also informed of the scenarios and circumstances under which they are allowed to work outside of their employer’s household. Likewise, first-time employers are briefed through the Employers' Orientation Programme (EOP). The SIP and EOP also provide specific examples on arrangements that are disallowed. For example, an FDW is not allowed to work for a neighbour after completing chores for an employer, and an employer is not allowed to ask an FDW to engage in cleaning activities in their offices or shop spaces. In addition, the SIP educates first-time FDWs on the list of support channels that they can go to for assistance. We have also started a programme to interview first-time FDWs conducted in their native languages, where they are able to raise any employment or well-being issues.”
“The Self-Employed Person (SEP) Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) is a means-tested scheme to help Singaporean SEPs with less means and family support to tide over this period of economic uncertainty. To target SIRS at SEPs with limited household wealth, married individuals will not qualify for SIRS if the assessable income of his or her spouse exceeds $70,000 a year. $70,000 is significantly above the median assessable income and is in line with other national schemes such as Workfare. As with the other qualifying criteria, we have also been exercising flexibility for this criterion. About 10% of the unsuccessful SIRS applicants had spousal incomes that far exceeded the $70,000 threshold and hence could not be covered by our appeal guidelines.”
“The primary purpose of CPF is to help members save for retirement. Members earn risk-free interest of up to 6% per annum on their CPF balances. Members who are prepared to take some risks may do so through the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS). There is a wide variety of investment products available in the market. Members also vary greatly in their knowledge and understanding of these products. To prevent excessive risk to retirement savings, CPF Board sets limits on the amounts that can be invested as well as the products available under CPFIS. Notwithstanding these limits, members have access to a range of investment products of varying risk profiles. These include bonds, fixed deposits, insurance policies, unit trusts, exchange-traded funds, shares and gold products. Managed investment products and providers are reviewed before they are available through CPFIS. For example, since 2006, all new CPFIS funds must be in the top 25th percentile of funds in their global peer group and have an expense ratio below the cap in their risk category. To ensure that the list of CPFIS products and providers remains relevant, the CPF Board will continue to review it on an ongoing basis. This strikes a balance between allowing CPFIS participants the flexibility to diversify their investment portfolios to enhance their retirement nest eggs, while safeguarding members' interest.”
“Based on our latest available survey data, in the first half of 2020, 6,460 residents were retrenched, of which about half were women.”
“Mr Speaker, I had said that in the last five years, about 40,000 employers have applied for Employment Passes at least once. [Please refer to "Debate on President's Address", Official Report, 1 September 2020, Vol 95, Issue No 3.] That is an error. In the last five years, 75,000 employers have applied for Employment Passes at least once. Thank you.”
“Mr Speaker, with your leave, may I correct a factual error in my speech at the 1 September Sitting during the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President's Address.”
“In the AGO Report, if we look at its reporting of findings in other Ministries, it is quite consistent. Even if the agencies have addressed the issue, it does not prevent the AGO from making the Report. That is the merit of the system – that regardless of the actions that have been taken up to follow up on the findings, the AGO's responsibility is to report them so that the public is aware that there were these lapses. We acknowledged the lapse and we fixed it. As to the names of the three programme partners, certainly, if Mr Singh is very interested, we can provide it to him. But I think the question really is, "Did the programme partners make a mistake in good faith or did they deliberately try to defraud the Government in some way?" And if our assessment is that they deliberately attempted to try and defraud the Government in some way, then the appropriate action is to report them to the Police so that a complete investigation can be conducted. At the appropriate juncture, their identities will be made public. But, in this case, it was an incident of the programme partners not having done a thorough job of documenting what, in fact, did happen. So, we do not as a matter of practice regularly name programme partners for sometimes administrative errors that they have committed.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member Mr Pritam Singh for his questions and also for acknowledging the critical importance of the Professional Conversion Programmes in helping our PMETs move on to new job roles, most of the time outside of their existing companies and industries, but sometimes within the same company or within the same industry. He acknowledged their importance and raised the question of the findings by the AGO on the career conversion. I should emphasise this – the AGO noted that the career conversion was not well documented but it did not say that there was no career conversion. And, on subsequent checks, WSG established the clear fact that there was career conversion and it was a question of the programme partner not having properly documented this. So, it was not that the job scopes did not change substantially. It was simply the fact that the programme partners did not document them properly and they did not have a very consistent way of assessing the degree of career conversion and the degree of change of the job scopes across different programme partners. I would just want to emphasise this that there was, in fact, the change in job scope. WSG's verification confirmed this and it was a question of documentation. That being the case, we focus on fixing the problem of documentation. And I think I have explained earlier on in my reply how we go about doing so.”
“It will also continue to strengthen its supervision over them.”