Tan See Leng
Singapore
“We are aware of the Singapore Workplace Report 2026, produced by the Singapore Institute of Directors and Gallup, and we are studying its findings.”
“The Taskforce for Responsible Retrenchment and Employment Facilitation (Taskforce) actively reaches out to all retrenched local employees. In 2025, 77% of Mandatory Retrenchment Notifications (MRNs) were submitted at least seven days ahead of the employee's last working day and 73% of MRNs were submitted at least two weeks ahead.”
“From 2022 to 2025, vacancy rates for technical maintenance roles in the real estate services sector, which includes facilities management, have been lower than the overall job vacancy rate, except in 2025 (see Table 1).”
“The Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) works with sector agencies to determine the courses which are required by the respective industries. The SWDA currently funds more than 100 courses, spanning a wide range of mental health-related fields.”
“In the first quarter of 2026, the profile of retrenched residents aged 50 to 59 was broadly similar to the profile of all retrenched residents, predominantly comprising professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) and were mainly from wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, financial and insurance services and profession…”
“In 2025, around 4,200 resident professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) aged 45 to 59 were retrenched, higher than 3,200 in 2024 and 3,500 in 2023. Their six-month re-entry rate remained stable at 48.5% in 2025, compared with 48.9% in 2024 and 50.1% in 2023.”
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“Members may refer to the combined reply given on 23 September 2025 on graduate employment and the GRaduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) programme which addressed these questions. [Please refer to "Reasons for Lower Proportion of Fresh Graduates in Full-time Employment and Extent of Help from GRaduate Industry Traineeship Programme", Official Report, 23 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 3, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“The Member may refer to the reply to Question No 43 in the Order Paper for the Sitting on 23 September 2025. [Please refer to "Data on Jobseekers Finding Jobs After Being Retrenched for More than a Year and Possible "Returnship" Programme", Official Report, 23 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 3, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]”
“The primary objective of the Central Provident Fund (CPF) is to support members' retirement, healthcare, and housing needs. When the CPF was expanded to support education needs, it was designed as a loan scheme and confined to basic full-time tertiary education at local approved educational institutions. With increasing life expectancy and higher costs of living, we need to ensure that CPF members have sufficient savings for retirement, healthcare and housing. Postgraduate and professional certification courses are generally tailored for working adults who are in a better position to save for the fees. Therefore, we have no plans to open up the CPF Education Loan Scheme for other courses beyond basic tertiary education at local approved educational institutions. Singaporeans could consider other available financing options, such as Government tuition fee loan for eligible students studying the approved Ministry of Education-subsidised postgraduate courses at the Autonomous Universities and study or education loans offered by financial institutions. Singaporeans could also tap on their SkillsFuture Credit, including the Mid-Career Credit top-up of $4,000 for Singaporeans aged 40 and above, to defray the out-of-pocket cost for eligible courses funded by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).”
“There are about 550 S Pass holders employed in Ministries and Statutory Boards, making up roughly 0.35% of the 154,000 public officers. They take on roles that require skills that are in shortage among our local workforce. As the number of S Pass holders is small, further breakdown would be of limited public interest. The Public Service adopts the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, and fairly considers all local candidates for job positions.”
“Mediacorp informed the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) of its planned retrenchment exercise ahead of making the announcement on 1 September 2025. The Ministry is unable to disclose details of the retrenchment, including the age range of the retrenched staff, as such details are private and confidential. We understand that all affected employees have the opportunity to apply for alternative roles within Mediacorp. Mediacorp had engaged its affiliated union, the Singapore Union of Broadcasting Employees, to support affected staff. We understand that Mediacorp is providing the affected staff with a training grant to support skills upgrading and is also working with the National Trades Union Congress' Employment and Employability Institute to provide employment facilitation and outplacement services.”
“In 2024, there were around 87,100 residents outside the labour force due to caregiving reasons. Among them, 20.9% were below 40 years of age, 25.1% were aged 40-49, 20.5% were aged 50-59 and 33.4% were aged 60 and above1. Most caregivers outside the labour force were women (85.7%). We do not have data on the number of first-time caregivers. We recognise the importance of addressing the long-term financial impact of caregiving-related unemployment. There are various Government interventions to help caregivers mitigate such impact. For example, caregivers who wish to re-enter the workforce can tap on employment facilitation and reskilling initiatives under SkillsFuture and Workforce Singapore (WSG) to improve their employability. This includes WSG's Career Conversion Programmes, Mid-Career Pathways Programme and the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme. Working caregivers may also be eligible for the Workfare Income Supplement, which supplements eligible lower-wage workers' income and retirement savings. Eligible caregivers who are seniors can also benefit from additional support measures that supplement their retirement income and Central Provident Fund savings. In this regard, the Silver Support Scheme and Matched Retirement Savings Scheme were enhanced from January 2025, while the Majulah Package for seniors born in 1973 or earlier provided an additional boost to eligible seniors' retirement and healthcare adequacy, including those with caregiving duties. Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) can help caregivers manage caregiving responsibilities and career aspirations. The Tripartite Guidelines on FWA Requests, which took effect in December last year, helps employers and caregivers navigate discussions about FWAs to arrive at mutually beneficial arrangements.”
“Following the announcement of Jetstar Asia's closure in June 2025, the National Trades Union Congress' Employment and Employability Institute worked closely with Jetstar Asia, the Singapore Mercantile & Manual Workers' Union, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Singapore Airlines Group to organise a job matching exercise for affected employees. The Ministry of Manpower does not track nor require companies to report re-employment rates for such job matching exercises. We understand that, as of 9 September 2025, around 90% of former Jetstar Asia flight crew have either found new jobs or landed job interviews following the exercise. For the remaining workers, we understand that the union had encouraged them to apply for temporary financial assistance under the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme and advised members to use the Union Training Assistance Programme to help offset training costs while seeking new roles.”
“The Government recognises and understands Singaporeans' concerns over rising costs and their impact on retirement adequacy. We have been strengthening the Central Provident Fund (CPF) system so that those who work and contribute consistently to their CPF will be assured of meeting their basic needs in old age. This includes reviewing how the Basic Retirement Sum for future cohorts should grow and providing lifelong monthly payouts through CPF LIFE to protect against longevity risks. With regard to CPF withdrawals, we need to strike a fine balance between members' immediate needs and ensuring sufficient retirement income in their later years. The current withdrawal rules are designed with this in mind, as increasing withdrawal flexibilities comes with the trade-off of lower monthly payouts in retirement. At the same time, we have and will continue to provide support for those who may not be able to set aside enough despite their best efforts. We introduced the Majulah Package in 2024 to boost retirement and healthcare adequacy of our "Young Seniors" and older cohorts. Eligible seniors with lower MediSave savings also received a MediSave bonus this year. We also support seniors' retirement adequacy through schemes, like the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme, the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme and the Silver Support Scheme. We enhanced Silver Support this year, increasing quarterly payments by 20% to keep pace with inflation. We will continue to review Silver Support periodically so that it targets seniors who need it most. On top of these moves, the Government has provided additional support to help Singaporeans, including seniors, cope with cost-of-living concerns. This includes the Assurance Package and Goods and Services Tax Voucher schemes.”
“The Ministry's approach is to safeguard key employment standards in legislation, while encouraging employers to adopt progressive workplace practices that are mutually beneficial for employees while meeting their business needs. In line with this approach, the Employment Act entitles employees to paid sick leave and employers are legally required to excuse their employees from work if they are certified unfit for work by a medical practitioner, for the well-being of the employee and their co-workers. Employers should not undertake personal data collection in order to discourage employees from taking sick leave when ill. At the same time, employees must use sick leave responsibly, and employers can conduct investigations if they suspect potential misconduct. If employees have any concerns about their company's employment policies, they should first surface the issue through their company's grievance-handling channel or approach their union if their company is unionised. Employees may also approach the Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices for further assistance.”
“Work Permit holders with valid salary claims lodged with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management are allowed to look for a new employer and would be issued with Change of Employer (COE) letters. About 1,600 and 1,100 Work Permit holders with valid salary claims were issued with such COE letters in 2024 and from January to June 2025 respectively. Of these, about 65% subsequently obtained a Work Permit approval within the validity period of their COE letters. For the remaining workers, there were either no Work Permit applications submitted, or their Work Permit applications were rejected because the employer did not meet Work Permit requirements, such as having insufficient Work Permit quota.”
“The primary objective of the Central Provident Fund (CPF) is to support members' retirement, healthcare, and housing needs. When the CPF was expanded to support education needs, it was designed as a loan scheme and confined to basic full-time tertiary education at local approved educational institutions. With increasing life expectancy and higher costs of living, we need to ensure that CPF members have sufficient savings for retirement, healthcare and housing. Tuition fees charged by local educational institutions are heavily subsidised by the Ministry of Education. Students who use their parents' CPF savings under the CPF Education Loan Scheme for such local studies would generally be able to repay the loan comfortably through their working income after graduation. On the other hand, overseas education is relatively more costly. If students are unable to repay the loan, it would have serious impact on their parents' retirement savings. Therefore, we have no plans to open up the CPF Education Loan Scheme for other courses beyond basic tertiary education at local approved educational institutions. Singaporeans could consider other available financing options, such as study or education loans offered by financial institutions for overseas education.”
“Since its introduction in 2021, the Senior Employment Credit (SEC) has benefitted over 500,000 unique senior workers, as of end-2024. Table 1 below shows the annual breakdown by sector.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) leverages various touch points to regularly educate migrant workers on kickbacks and to encourage them to report such offences. These include the Settling-In-Programme which is mandatory for all first-time, non-Malaysian migrant workers in the construction, marine, process and manufacturing sectors, as well as through the FWMOMCare app, social media channels and partnerships with non-governmental organisations. The collection of kickbacks is a serious offence. Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, offenders may face up to two years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $30,000, or both. To date, the Courts have imposed substantial fines of $10,000 to $15,000 per charge or imprisonment terms. On top of these penalties, the Courts may order offenders to surrender the monies received from the affected workers if no restitution has been made. These measures have been effective in keeping the number of kickback cases low. Migrant workers can report kickbacks without fear of reprisal from their employers as MOM will facilitate a change of employment for those who wish to continue working in Singapore. We will continue to monitor the situation and review the penalties where necessary.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) issues regular reminders to Migrant Domestic Worker (MDW) employers and MDWs that it is illegal for employers to deploy their MDWs to work for their own businesses, including home-based businesses. MOM also follows up on all complaints from the public and MDWs, and leverages random house visits to uncover illegal deployment of MDWs in home-based businesses. From 2022 to 2024, MOM investigated 19 cases involving MDWs or foreigners working illegally in home-based businesses. Of these, seven employers were issued with warnings, while two other employers were fined. The remaining cases were unsubstantiated. Employers who illegally deploy their MDWs may be liable to a fine of up to $10,000. They may also be barred from employing MDWs.”
“All migrant workers, including migrant domestic workers and confinement nannies, must have a valid Work Permit to work in Singapore. Employers may apply for the necessary work permits directly with the Ministry of Manpower or through an Employment Agency (EA). This provides flexibility for employers, who can self-help to hire directly without incurring the additional costs of engaging an EA. Like other home-based care arrangements such as babysitters, confinement nanny services are private arrangements that employers source on their own. These arrangements are decentralised, varied and highly personalised in nature due to the diversity of home environments and employers' needs. Hence, they are not amenable to standardisation and regulation.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) encourages all employers to provide adequate rest and welfare for their employees. To help employers create a conducive and healthy work environment, MOM and the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council have issued the WSH Guidelines on Improving Ergonomics in the Workplace, which provide recommendations on how employers can support employees who need to stand while at work. These include allowing employees to sit and rest at regular intervals and providing anti-fatigue mats or sit-stand stools. Mandatory regulations on when service workers should be allowed to sit may not effectively address the diverse operational requirements of different workplaces. Our current approach allows employers to implement appropriate solutions tailored to their specific circumstances and their workers' needs. MOM and the WSH Council work with industry associations, unions and employers to promote awareness and adoption of the good practices in the Guidelines on Improving Ergonomics in the Workplace. We will continue to regularly review our occupational health policies, taking into account the latest scientific evidence and international best practices.”
“The Member may refer to the combined Parliamentary Question reply on 23 September 2025 on graduate employment and the GRaduate Industry Traineeship (GRIT) Programme where this question was addressed. [Please refer to "Reasons for Lower Proportion of Fresh Graduates in Full-time Employment and Extent of Help from GRaduate Industry Traineeship Programme", Official Report, 23 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 3, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) conducts ad hoc surveys on the total recruitment fees paid by work permit holders. Among first-time non-domestic work permit holders who indicated paying recruitment fees, the typical total recruitment fees in 2024 by sector are as follows: (a) construction sector: between $1,000 and $7,800; (b) marine shipyard sector: between $1,200 and $4,800; (c) process sector: between $600 and $7,200; (d) manufacturing sector: between $1,500 and $7,400; and (e) services sector: between $900 and $7,100. The typical fees by gender are as follows: (a) males: between $1,000 and $7,200; and (b) females: between $300 and $5,600. MOM does not publicly disclose data broken down by nationality, in view of sensitivities bilaterally and among different communities in Singapore.”
“Today, Central Provident Fund (CPF) members who have started their retirement payouts will either be on CPF LIFE or the Retirement Sum Scheme (RSS), but not both. As such, tax-deductible top-ups will go towards the respective scheme that the member is on, but not both. Members who have at least $60,000 in their Retirement Account when they start their retirement payouts will be automatically included in CPF LIFE. This covers members who have set aside their Full Retirement Sum (FRS). RSS payouts are not relevant to members who have set aside their FRS. For those on CPF LIFE, their top-ups will be streamed out via CPF LIFE, which ensures that no matter how long a member lives for, he or she would be provided with a monthly payout for life. This ensures that members will not outlive their savings, even as life expectancy increases. Hence, streaming out top-ups via CPF LIFE allows members to boost their monthly retirement payouts for life. For those on RSS, their tops-up will be streamed out via RSS payouts. Streaming out top-ups via RSS will also boost monthly retirement payouts. However, RSS payouts are designed to last up to 20 years from the payout eligibility age or until CPF savings run out.”
“The Central Provident Fund (CPF) system is a key pillar of Singapore's social security which helps Singapore Citizens (SCs) and Permanent Residents (PRs) set aside savings for their retirement, housing and healthcare needs. For those who renounce their Citizenship or Permanent Residency status, their participation in the CPF system and all other CPF schemes will cease and can, thus, withdraw their CPF monies in full. Any unwithdrawn savings will cease to earn the prevailing CPF interest rates. Similarly, the CPF withdrawal rules are also applied consistently across SCs and PRs. For example, to safeguard retirement adequacy, SCs and PRs are required to set aside the full retirement sum (FRS) at age 55 or up to half of FRS with a property pledge, to provide a basic payout for life from age 65. Members can also make withdrawals from their CPF savings from age 55 onwards, subject to prevailing withdrawal rules.”
“There are no regulations restricting Singaporeans and Permanent Residents from taking on food and parcel delivery work, whether by becoming platform workers or working as employees for firms that deliver items, or both. In contrast, foreigners may only take on delivery work under an employer-employee relationship if they have a valid work pass. They are not allowed to be platform workers as the Ministry does not issue work passes for such work. As announced earlier this month, the Platform Workers Trilateral Group has issued recommendations to address illegal activities in the platform sector, such as foreigners using local platform workers’ accounts to perform platform work. Under the recommendations, the Government and platform operators will strengthen enforcement and set stringent penalties to stamp out such illegal activities. These efforts are targeted at individuals performing illegal platform work as well as those who have abetted the illegal work. Legitimate workers and businesses that do not run afoul of the law will not be penalised. Nevertheless, as part of the increased enforcement checks, we acknowledge that legitimate workers and businesses may also need to be checked and inconvenienced. The Ministry appreciates our local delivery riders who took time to assist in our enforcement checks over the past few months. We seek our delivery riders' understanding to work with us to deter illegal activities in the platform sector.”
“The power to grant a Court order is exercised by the Judiciary. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not have the legal authority to exercise a judicial power to convert settlement agreements into Court orders. Either party may instead register a settlement agreement recorded at the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) with the District Court. A registered settlement agreement is enforceable as an order of the District Court and entitles one party to take enforcement action against the defaulting party for breaching the settlement agreement. The Courts will determine if the terms of the Court order have been breached. Whilst a settlement that is not registered with the District Court is still legally binding, a party must first successfully sue the defaulting party for breaching the terms of the settlement agreement and obtain a Court order, before any enforcement action can be taken. Notwithstanding the Court's involvement, MOM and tripartite partners have put in place a process to ensure that workers receive the agreed payment as far as possible. Once a settlement agreement has been registered and is enforceable as a Court order, if the worker did not receive payment by the due date, he can inform TADM who will help to engage the employer, advise the worker on the process to apply to the Courts to enforce the Court order, and escalate, as necessary, to MOM for possible enforcement actions. Penalties, such as warnings, fines, debarment from applying for work passes, and prosecution in Court, may be imposed on errant employers.”
“Please refer to the reply to Question No 41 in the Order Paper for 23 September 2025 on measures to safeguard job stability and strengthen support for workers. [Please refer to "Strategies to Safeguard Job Stability for Singaporeans in Light of Trade Tensions and Structural Shifts in Labour Market", Official Report, 23 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 3, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]”
“Please refer to the reply to Question No 91 in the Order Paper for 23 September 2025. [Please refer to "Impact of Rise of AI on Gender Employment Gap", Official Report, 23 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 3, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]”
“The Ministry of Manpower considers various factors when determining the appropriate enforcement actions to take, including the need for both punitive and deterrent effects. In the majority of cases where Migrant Domestic Workers (MDWs) worked illegally for households or commercial entities for short duration on few occasions, warnings were issued to both the illegal employers and MDWs. Based on factors of each case such as the duration of illegal employment, fines would be issued. For the period 2020 to 2024, 66 illegal employers were fined between $1,000 and $12,000 by MOM, with the average fine being $3,100. Two MDWs were fined $2,000 and $4,000 respectively. As for the more egregious cases that were prosecuted in Court, 12 illegal employers and 19 MDWs were convicted and fined an average of $8,800 and $5,000 respectively. Court-imposed fines are determined by the Courts' assessment of the individual's liability and the circumstances of each case.”
“Jobseekers, including fresh graduates and young professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), tap on multiple channels to maximise their chances of success in their job search. These could include MyCareersFuture (MCF) or other job portals, recruitment agencies, networking platforms and direct company applications. MCF is one of the most widely used job portals in Singapore. One in three fresh graduates and young PMETs, proxied as those aged 30 and below in the labour force who have attained a diploma/professional qualification or a degree, were active MCF users in 2024. Of this group, about six in ten found new jobs within six months. These job applicants may also have utilised other job platforms. Workforce Singapore (WSG) will continue to use a combination of digital marketing campaigns, media pitches and physical events to increase visibility of the MCF portal and encourage its usage. Additionally, WSG will continue to enhance functionalities such as the search filters that help users find job opportunities with Government support like the upcoming GRaduate Industry Traineeship (GRIT) programme for fresh graduates.”
“In general, the Executive leaves it to the Courts to decide on which judgments to publish. The Courts have determined that judgments delivered in the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) need not be published by default. Going forward, given the considerable body of case law developed since the establishment of the ECT in 2017, the Judiciary will be publishing selected ECT judgments which serve as useful reference to parties and the general public. The publication of a curated set of ECT judgments, targeted to be made available in phases from the second half of 2026, aims to provide greater awareness and a better understanding of the legal rights and responsibilities in employer-employee relationships. This in turn enhances access to justice. The Courts may also make judgments available upon request by any party and with the Courts' approval. This approach strikes a balance between helping the public understand the law and how it is applied, ensuring that the ECT continues to dispense justice in a timely manner, and maintaining the confidential nature of such proceedings.”
“The Ministry of Manpower does not track complaints regarding intrusive employee monitoring practices because such practices fall outside of the scope of the Employment Act. If employees are of the view that their company's policies breach their privacy, they should first surface the issue through their company's grievance-handling channel or approach their union if their company is unionised. Employees may also approach the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices for further assistance.”
“The Primary Care Plan (PCP) is mandated only for Work Permit and S Pass holders who live in dormitories or work in the construction, marine shipyard and process sectors. This is because most of these workers live in communal dormitories and face a higher risk of infectious disease outbreaks. The PCP also improves accessibility of primary care as PCP clinics are usually located near where they stay. Employers may choose to purchase the PCP, which is under a fixed capitation rate, for their other migrant workers to have better cost certainty. The Ministry of Manpower does not require employers to purchase medical insurance for Employment Pass holders, as they would have the means to purchase personal medical insurance or may be receiving medical benefits as part of their employment contract.”
“The Government recognises the importance of supporting women in the workplace, including the needs of nursing mothers. Given the varied nature of work requirements and arrangements, we take an enabling approach to support employers rather than to impose regulations, and work with tripartite partners to promote an inclusive, supportive work culture for nursing mothers. For example, the Tripartite Standard on Work-Life Harmony specifies workplace practices that employers should implement to support employees to manage their work responsibilities and personal aspirations, including providing lactation support in the form of a breastfeeding-friendly work environment and flexible lactation breaks. The Employers' Guide to Breastfeeding at the Workplace, which was jointly produced by the National Trade Union Congress U Family, Health Promotion Board and the Singapore National Employers Federation, also recommends employers to provide lactation breaks for employees. The Government has also legislated the provision of lactation facilities by building owners under the Building and Construction Authority's Code on Accessibility.”
“An active Central Provident Fund (CPF) member is a member with at least one CPF contribution paid for the current or any of the preceding three months as an employee. The number and proportion of active CPF members who have turned 55 years old from 2020 to 2024 are shown below: Even with the labour market disruptions during the pandemic years, the proportion has seen a slight uptrend between 2020 and 2024. We expect the proportion of active CPF members turning age 55 to remain stable in the coming years.”
“From January 2021 to June 2025, the Ministry of Manpower received around 19,800 Mandatory Retrenchment Notification (MRN) submissions. Of these, 5,750 were submitted later than the requisite period of five working days after affected employees were notified. Most of the non-compliant employers were issued with caution letters and were cooperative in filing MRNs thereafter.”
“Following the five workplace fatalities in May 2025, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) called on companies across all industries to conduct voluntary Safety Time-Outs between 12 and 26 June 2025, with an emphasis on work activities involving vehicular safety and work at height. MOM did not track participation in the exercise. MOM also ramped up our workplace safety and health inspections with more than 500 inspections conducted between April and June 2025 in high-risk sectors, such as construction, manufacturing and marine. Three stop-work orders and 110 fines were issued to companies and individuals for safety breaches. Common breaches found included the lack of control measures for working-at-height hazards, such as unguarded open sides and inadequate guardrails, and for vehicular hazards, such as not having traffic management plans.”
“Since 2014, the gap in employment rate between male and female aged 25 to 64 has narrowed from 18.8 percentage points to 10.5 percentage points in 2024. The unadjusted gender pay gap1 has also narrowed from 16.3% in 2018 to 14.3% in 2023. When we compare men and women with similar characteristics in age, education, occupation, industry, and usual hours worked, the adjusted gender pay gap in 2023 is lower at 6.0%. These outcomes have been supported by a wide suite of jobs and skills initiatives that the Government has offered to boost women's employment outcomes. In particular, Workforce Singapore's HerCareer initiative is a focused effort to support women with employment facilitation programmes and services so that they can better access good jobs and build up relevant skillsets. In addition, flexible work arrangements are a key enabler to support women to work. In this regard, the Government and tripartite partners have launched the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests, which took effect on 1 December last year. The Government will continue to study the impact of AI on our workforce and consider ways to help businesses and workers seize new opportunities arising from AI while ensuring inclusive growth.”
“The Government will support Singaporeans to acquire relevant skills through schemes, such as the Career Conversion Programmes and the TechSkills Accelerator, which support workers to transit into roles, such as software and cloud professionals and AI engineers. To prepare young graduates for career success in an AI era, the Government has put in place a mix of upskilling programmes, work-based learning and career guidance initiatives. Under the National AI Strategy 2.0, for example, we are scaling up programmes, like the AI Apprenticeship Programme, to boost our pipeline of young AI practitioners. Beyond the inclusion of AI-related modules within the curriculum at our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to build up students' digital literacies, we have also been evolving our education system to place a greater focus on soft skills that continue to be important for career success in an AI era. In addition, we have stepped-up support for career planning through IHLs and Workforce Singapore's career guidance efforts, to journey with them in working towards their career goals. In the near term, we have introduced the GRaduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) Programme to provide opportunities for young graduates to gain work experience that companies may put a greater premium on. These efforts are part of a holistic suite of support for young graduates so that they can start their careers on a good footing. As for AI's impact on the gender employment gap, we have yet to see evidence supporting the hypothesis that AI will disproportionately affect female employment in Singapore. Female employment outcomes have continued to improve over the past decade amid the progress of AI and other digital technologies.”
“Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Andre Low have filed three Parliamentary Questions relating to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the workforce. This reply will address these related questions together. As a small and labour-constrained economy, AI presents opportunities for us to overcome our limitations to grow our economy and improve livelihoods. While we cannot fully predict the scope and scale of AI's impact on the workforce, the Government is taking active steps to shape it positively, to create better jobs and a more productive labour force. The National AI Strategy 2.0 has hence set out Singapore's ambition and commitment to harness the potential of AI by expanding the pool of AI creators and practitioners and uplifting the AI capabilities of the workforce. To ensure that AI adoption leads to good jobs for Singaporeans, we need businesses to couple AI adoption with investments in their workforce. Today, companies can tap on initiatives, such as the Productivity Solutions Grant, SMEs Go Digital and the newly introduced Enterprise Compute Initiative to adopt AI transformation, ranging from off-the-shelf to tailored solutions. In tandem with support for AI adoption, the Government also set aside over $400 million for the Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package to provide greater support for companies to embark on workforce transformation, including job redesign efforts. In addition, we have set aside around $200 million for the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Company Training Committee Grant to help companies enhance business capabilities in tandem with worker outcomes. At the same time, we need workers to be proactive and adaptable in upgrading themselves to take on new or redesigned tasks arising from AI adoption.”
“Mandating that all employers must provide reasons for rejection to each applicant would thus create significant operational burdens and compliance costs for both small and larger employers. Nevertheless, we encourage employers and job applicants to provide constructive feedback to each other, where practical. The Workplace Fairness Act, when brought into force, will also safeguard merit-based hiring and provide jobseekers with recourse if they have been subjected to discrimination during the selection process.”
“Clear job postings can be mutually beneficial for employers and job seekers by reducing search costs for both sides. As a baseline, the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices stipulate that selection criteria should be stated clearly in job advertisements. The Ministry of Manpower encourages employers to provide as much details as they can in job postings to facilitate the selection process. At the same time, some employers may wish to keep job postings broader for competitive and internal confidentiality reasons. Mandating that employers must lock in and provide these details upfront can have the unintended effect of limiting the pool of applicants and turning away jobseekers whom employers would have been prepared to negotiate with and make adjustments for. This would run counter to the Government's efforts to encourage employers to move away from a "plug and play" approach and towards a "plug, train and play" approach, to consider a wider group of applicants who may have less experience and qualifications but have aptitude and willingness to learn. The Member's suggestion to require employers to furnish unsuccessful interviewees with a reason for their rejection would be very onerous for employers, as hiring decisions are often based on a host of considerations involving multiple decision-makers, and including confidential matters, such as the relative performance of other candidates. Smaller employers may have more limited human resource capabilities and find it challenging to provide individual responses to every applicant, while larger employers typically receive substantial numbers of job applications.”
“Furthermore, once we allow migrant workers to work for multiple employers, it will be difficult to prevent them from moonlighting illegally, which will undermine the integrity of the work pass framework and affect business prospects of law-abiding companies as well as our local workers' employment outcomes.”
“The Household Services Scheme (HSS) allows companies to hire migrant workers to provide part-time domestic services, such as home cleaning, grocery shopping, car-washing and pet-sitting. Since formalising HSS as a permanent scheme in 2021, the number of HSS companies increased from around 80 to 240 today. Based on surveys, the number of households served by HSS companies have also increased steadily. The Ministry of Manpower supports companies offering HSS services through quota and source country concessions for migrant workers and the companies determine the prices of their services based on market demand and types of services provided. HSS companies benefit from additional work permit quota above the prevailing Dependency Ratio Ceiling for the services sector. As there has been a steady growth of HSS companies over the past years, there is sufficient choice for consumers and no impetus currently to consider Government interventions on the prices of such services. We recognise the manpower benefits of foreign workers working for multiple households for greater efficiencies. Hence, we support schemes, such as HSS, as well as the Shared Stay-in Senior Care Services Sandbox, which allows workers to be deployed across households with additional foreign worker quota and source relaxations. Under such schemes, workers only have one employer, for clear accountability over the worker's welfare. This better safeguards the interests of both workers and employers. For example, if migrant domestic workers are allowed to concurrently work for HSS companies and sustain an injury, it would be hard to determine the proportion of liability to be borne between multiple employers.”
“As part of the Economic Strategy Review announced by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong in August, the Committee on Managing Impact of Restructuring is developing ways to proactively support workers who are affected by economic transformation as well as strengthen system-level support for displaced workers to bounce back into gainful employment. The Committee will share more details in due course. The Ministry of Manpower and WSG leverage multiple communications and outreach channels to increase awareness of these measures among both individuals and employers. This includes media pitches, marketing campaigns and roadshows. For older jobseekers, we will continue to build our presence at local communities, such as by hosting in-person career fairs and working closely with Community Development Councils to publicise and provide employment support, given that many older jobseekers still prefer having face-to-face engagements or finding work near their homes. The Tripartite Standards (TS) recognises employers who have implemented progressive employment practices, such as age-friendly workplaces and FWAs. On MyCareersFuture portal, jobseekers can identify these employers through their TS logomarks and select job postings that offer different types of FWAs. The Government and tripartite partners have also convened a Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment, to review and refresh our policies to support senior employment. The Workgroup will release its recommendations next year.”
“Dr Charlene Chen and Ms Hazlina Halim have filed two Parliamentary Questions on supporting jobseekers to re-enter the workforce. Of the 9,990 residents retrenched in 2023, 80.8% found employment within 18 months. There are existing schemes to support companies in employing those returning to the workforce. For example, Workforce Singapore's (WSG's) Mid-Career Pathways Programme (MCPP) provides attachment opportunities for mature mid-career Singaporeans aged 40 and above so that they can gain industry-relevant skills and experience, whilst assessing job-fit. Returning jobseekers can also tap on the Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs) to be reskilled for new job roles with good prospects. Enhanced salary support is provided to employers who hire CCP participants who have been unemployed for at least six months. We also have a suite of measures to support Singaporeans re-entering the workforce, including older jobseekers, to find part-time or flexible work and inclusive employers. These include: CCPs, which we enhanced earlier this year to support mid-career workers to take up jobs with flexi-load arrangements, such as part-time work; the Senior Employment Credit, which supports employers to hire and retain Singaporeans aged 60 and above; the Part-Time Re-employment Grant, which supports employers to offer part-time re-employment, flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and structured career planning to their senior workers; and the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests (TG-FWAR), which allows employers and employees to discuss and arrive at mutually-beneficial work arrangements. WSG also provides career matching and guidance services to support jobseekers, including interview preparation, networking and employer engagement.”
“The Ministry of Manpower launched the Career Health SG initiative to better optimise our workforce for future jobs. We have also set up the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment to study how to extend the productive longevity of our ageing workforce. An Alliance for Action on Advancing Career and Employment Services was recently convened to work with the private sector on solutions to redefine jobs, strengthen employability and improve job matching. In addition, the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme launched earlier this year provides financial support for the involuntarily displaced so that they can bounce back stronger from employment setbacks. The Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce will monitor the impact of global trade developments on local job creation and stand ready to roll out additional measures to bolster, if necessary. At the same time, we have embarked on the Economic Strategy Review to chart a forward-looking economic blueprint to secure good opportunities for our businesses and workers.”
“Mr Saktiandi Supaat and Dr Wan Rizal filed Parliamentary Questions regarding anxiety about job security and measures to safeguard job stability and strengthen support for workers. Some Singaporeans feel anxious over job security due to an increased sense of uncertainty over the future, exacerbated by recent global events and accelerating technological advancements. In a dynamic economy, there will be continual creation and destruction of jobs. Our approach is to safeguard workers by helping them to move on to new jobs over time rather than to save jobs. Saving jobs that are no longer productive may hinder the growth of new and better jobs for Singaporeans in the longer term. Our approach to safeguard workers has three thrusts. First, create good jobs by facilitating the flow of investments into Singapore. We provide support for businesses to upgrade and transform their workforce in response to structural shifts in the economy. For example, we set aside over $600 million at this year’s Budget for the Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package and the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC's) Company Training Committee Grant to provide greater support for businesses in workforce transformation. Second, we equip workers with the right skillsets to help them remain employable, spending over $10 billion over the last five years on local workforce initiatives. Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore have a wide range of upskilling and reskilling programmes, such as the Career Conversion Programmes, the SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme and the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, to better support mid-career workers in upskilling and reskilling. Third, we have strengthened support for workers and businesses to navigate a more complex and diverse labour market.”
“The requirement of having worked six months in the past year is to target workers who faced recent unemployment shocks and help them bounce back well, as opposed to those who have already been outside the workforce for some time and may need other forms of support. We will continue working with tripartite partners to raise awareness of the scheme among those who are involuntarily unemployed and encourage employers conducting retrenchments to lean forward to assist affected employees with applications for the scheme. While the JS scheme is still in its early days, I would like to assure Members that we are closely monitoring the situation and will review the scheme parameters regularly to ensure that we provide the necessary support to involuntarily unemployed jobseekers. I would also like to stress that the JS scheme should not be viewed in isolation, as it builds on the Government's existing suite of programmes and services to help all jobseekers, such as the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme and WSG's Career Conversion Programmes. We are committed to support all jobseekers to bounce back to better jobs.”
“Mr Edward Chia asked whether the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support (JS) scheme will be extended to workers engaged on contracts for service with non-renewals. In a contract for service, a self-employed person or a freelancer is engaged for a fee to carry out an assignment or project. The independent contractor can decide whether to accept the contract and there is no guarantee of renewals. Therefore, we do not cover them under the JS scheme, which is meant for involuntarily unemployed jobseekers. Ms Elysa Chen and Dr Wan Rizal asked about the individuals who have received assistance under the JS scheme since its launch in April 2025. As of 31 August 2025, Workforce Singapore (WSG) had received over 7,200 applications, of which almost 2,900, or 40%, were approved and slightly more than 4,300, or 60%, were rejected. The majority of successful and unsuccessful applicants both fell within the same age range of 26-40. The top three reasons for unsuccessful applications were that the applicant was not assessed to be involuntarily unemployed; the applicant's past average monthly income exceeded the income threshold of $5,000 per month; and the applicant had not worked at least six months in the past 12 months. We have held the line in these cases, as the JS scheme is meant to support those made unemployed involuntarily due to reasons, such as retrenchment, cessation of business, dismissal or termination due to illness, injury or accident, rather than those who have chosen to leave. Where there is ambiguity in the reason for a worker becoming unemployed, WSG actively reaches out to employers to conduct verification checks. The income threshold of $5,000 per month exists to focus our support on lower- to middle-income jobseekers who are more likely to face financial pressure.”
“To the second point, certainly we have kept it very tight as at the outset, but if the scheme is successful and we are able to extend it to more companies, we certainly will work with the startups and the SMEs as well. For the first point, we will monitor our GDP growth. We will also look at the unemployment statistics, particularly the long-term unemployment statistics. If you look at where we are today, the resident long-term unemployment rate is still very low, below 1%. And the spot unemployment is about just below 3%, about 2.8%, 2.9%. At below 1%, a long-term unemployment rate, that 2% to 2.1% is actually churn. In any healthy economy, you would expect that churn to happen. That means that these people typically either take a gap, couple of weeks or months, but within six months they get back to a new job. Today, like I said, I mean, there is that fear, that angst, that apprehension, but the reality on the ground is such that we are still in a relatively stable state. Of course, things can change in the next one, two quarters, and we are cognisant of that. But what we are trying to do is to provide the reassurance, because to the individual looking for a job, he is most affected and impacted. No amount of statistics that I share will be able to allay his concerns, his fears and his anxiety. So, we want to scope this thing carefully to make sure that we can help them and we can reach out to all of them with maximum benefit. 1.04 pm”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think, to respect the time, I think we have passed Question Time.”
“What we are trying to do is to make sure that we want to level up the playing field for those people who may not have had the opportunity, because they were taken up by other responsibilities while they were still undergoing the training within the IHLs. And as I have said, if the Member over time feels that there are other opportunities, there are other ways, we are happy to listen to suggestions and solutions from yourself. And depending on GDP growth, depending on how the economy continues to progress and move along, we will not hesitate to ramp up the traineeships, ramp up all of the support resources available, because at the end, if you look at the entire history of what we have been doing over the last many years, it is really focusing on developing a very strong Singapore Core and Singapore workforce. I hope that gives Member the reassurance.”
“I thank Mr Giam for that supplementary questions. I want to bring the Member back to the chart that I distributed earlier. The delta of fresh graduates looking for jobs, that increase in numbers, is about 1,700. So, this initial number, and let me highlight and underscore, is an initial number of 800 traineeship positions, is actually approximately half of the increase in the number of job-seeking graduates in the 2025 cohort, compared to the 2024 cohort at the same point in June last year. And over time, you have seen that over that one year in my combined PQ reply earlier on, for those graduates in 2024, that from over 40%, I think it was 48%, has gone up to 88% in June this year. So, we expect that with time this delta will continue to drop because it was only in June that we got the numbers, so we expect that the numbers going into full-time employment would continue to increase. Because of that, as a result of the number of unemployed graduates gradually falling, because more of them land jobs overtime, because, as I have said, there are also 30,000 full-time job vacancies for fresh graduates that that were available, our end objective is to channel as many graduates as possible into full-time jobs. To the Member's point about grades and how those with better grades take up the GRIT traineeship, my sense is that those who have better grades and soft skills, those who have actually gotten a lot more experience, and those who have actually done a lot more internships and industrial traineeships while they were undergoing studies, they would have already been able to secure many of these jobs.”