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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“We will also do more for our younger and middle-aged workers and the Pioneer and Merdeka Generation seniors, many of whom are retirees. Ultimately, we want to strengthen our support such that as long as you work, as long as you contribute consistently to your CPF, you will be able to meet your basic retirement needs. We will provide further updates on our efforts to strengthen the CPF system in due course. Let me now conclude the first part of my speech and speed up the tea break. I believe that if we journey through the crossroads together, we will be able to align the crossroads and forge a new social compact, one where the Government, employers and our fellow Singaporeans can work together to improve career prospects, strengthen retirement adequacy and bring fair levels of reward and respect for all forms of work. It is one where no worker is left behind as Singapore progresses. In your working years, we will empower you to find and work towards new opportunities if you take the first step. We will also help you to upskill, to reskill and to facilitate your job search based on your skills and interests. With improved career health, you will be able to stay ahead of technological trends and seize many new job opportunities within and beyond your sector. In your golden years, we will support you such that you will be able to have a peace of mind if you have worked and you have contributed consistently to your CPF. I look forward to having more conversations with you and working together to create an inclusive society abundant and brimming with opportunities. I will share more about securing better workplaces with you in the next segment of my speech. [Applause.]”
“This will be done in phases, starting with $300 this year, to allow employers and employees to adjust to the changes. There will be no change to the annual salary ceiling at $102,000. An example of a worker who is supportive of the higher salary ceiling is Mr Fadzli Jamil. He is 38 years old and is the associate dean in the School of 3D Design at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). As a result of just raising the monthly salary ceiling for his CPF contributions, he can expect around an additional $100,000 in his combined CPF balances or a $500 increase in his monthly CPF LIFE payouts if he works until age 65 and starts his payouts then. Of course, for each year, should he choose to defer the start of his payouts, his monthly payouts will increase further by up to 7%. Employers' business costs are also likely to remain manageable as the increases are spread out over four years. The additional business cost impact is around half a billion per annum because not all workers are affected by the maximum increase of $2,000. The annual salary ceiling, which remains unchanged at this juncture, will also limit the impact on business costs. As part of the Forward Singapore exercise, we are taking a deeper look at what should be done to improve the retirement adequacy of Singaporeans. This is especially relevant with the greater economic uncertainties amidst global challenges, at least in the medium term. For the group that are in their 50s and early-60s today, they have a limited runway to work and save. With this in mind, we will review our range of solutions both from within and outside the CPF system, such as work-based incentives and the Silver Support scheme, to give them greater assurance that they can meet their basic retirement needs.”
“Mr Louis Chua also asked if the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) could be made more comprehensive and if there could be more direct means by which members can earn higher investment returns other than via CPFIS. Mr Chua had raised similar points last year. With the benefit of hindsight, it will always appear easy to achieve a higher rate of returns. But we have said before, that higher returns also come with higher risk and a greater potential for losses. Today, CPF members can invest in a diverse range of products, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), shares and gold products. Members who prefer not to take any risks with their retirement savings already enjoy risk-free interest rates of up to 6% per annum on their CPF savings, where investment risk is entirely borne by the Government. I would like to reassure Mr Louis Chua that in addition to our recent enhancements to the CPF system, we review CPF interest rates and the range of investment products under the CPFIS regularly to ensure that they remain relevant to members' needs as well as the changes in the operating environment. I would also like to thank Mr Pritam Singh for his suggestion during the recent Budget debate to reallocate a greater proportion of CPF contributions for younger members to their SA. This was raised by Miss Cheryl Chan during the CPF (Amendment) Bill in 2021 and by Mr Saktiandi Supaat during his cut. We are considering this idea and are very glad that Members have come out to support it. I sincerely hope that if and when we do eventually put up this proposal, the Workers' Party (WP) would be in full support of it. To help middle-income Singaporeans save more for retirement, we will also be raising the CPF monthly salary ceiling from $6,000 to $8,000 in 2026 to keep pace with rising salaries.”
“Mr Louis Chua asked for a review of the interest rates of the CPF Ordinary Account (OA). We are aware that the OA pegged rate has remained relatively stable amidst the current elevated interest rate environment while the yields of other market instruments of comparable risk and duration have increased. Let me reassure the Member that we are watching this interest rate environment very closely to ensure that the CPF interest rate pegs remain relevant in the prevailing operating environment, while taking into consideration the longer-term outlook. 3.30 pm Even as we study this, I should point out that during the low interest-rate environment of the last decade, we have paid a fair interest rate. The 2.5% floor for the OA has exceeded the pegged rate for over 20 years, even when market interest rates were low, such as during the Global Financial Crisis. Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked if we intend to revise the interest rates as market interest rates crossed 4% in 2023. The Special Account (SA) interest rate is pegged to the 12-month average yield of 10-year Singapore Government Securities (SGS) plus 1% and is reviewed quarterly. This helps to smoothen the short-term market fluctuations on the interest rates. If the pegged rate exceeds the floor rate of 4%, members will correspondingly earn the higher interest rate on their CPF savings. On top of this, the Government has and will continue to pay 1% of extra interest on the first $60,000 of members' combined CPF balances, including the first $20,000 in members' OA. Members aged 55 and above receive 2% extra interest on the first $30,000 of combined CPF balances and 1% on the next $30,000.”
“Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman and Mr Yip Hon Weng spoke in favour of enhancing the employability of seniors. That is an important strategy to help CPF members continue to build up their retirement nest egg through employment even after age 55. Senior Minister of State Koh will be elaborating more on our efforts in supporting the retirement adequacy for senior workers. We also provide additional support for our lower-wage workers. We have implemented enhancements to the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme (WIS) this year to increase the maximum annual payments, up from $4,000 to $4,200 and expanded the coverage so that over half a million lower-wage workers can benefit. Together with the enhanced WIS, our efforts in uplifting the wages of lower-wage workers will help them save more for their retirement. Senior Minister of State Zaqy will share more details later. For seniors who require further support for their retirement, CPF payouts are one of many sources of retirement income. Seniors may also receive targeted support from the Government through schemes such as ComCare and the Silver Support Scheme, which we enhanced in 2011. [Please refer to the clarification further in the debate.] Further, at Budget 2023, the Government announced enhancements to the Assurance Package and permanent GST Voucher scheme, to help Singaporeans tide through this period of higher inflation and to cushion the impact of the GST rate increase. In addition, seniors may also tap on their accumulated private savings, if available. If not, they may receive additional support from the community such as through charities. As you can tell, we are building from a position of strength. We are doing more to enhance the CPF system.”
“The sub-quota guards against over-reliance on NTS workers and ensures that employers diversify their workforce. The salary criterion safeguards against cheap-sourcing and incentivises employers to hire higher-skilled or more experienced workers from these source countries. Employers who are putting their existing NTS S Pass holders on Work Permits will have no trouble meeting the salary criterion. MOM will continue to work closely with the agencies and industries to review the NTS Occupation List from time to time. Members of the House, our growth must also be inclusive so as to enable all segments of our workers to reap the benefits. We will therefore also further strengthen our support for you. Let me share how we are doing so, especially in the area of retirement adequacy. Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon and Senior Minister of State Zaqy will elaborate further on how we intend to strengthen protection and support for Platform Workers, lower-wage workers, senior workers and migrant workers in their speeches. Even as we were tackling the immediate challenges of the pandemic, we maintained a steady focus on our longer-term objective of enhancing our workers' retirement adequacy. Mr Abdul Samad and Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked for an update on the retirement adequacy of Singaporeans. We recognise that the number of retiree households has been increasing and thus have been enhancing the CPF system, especially for the vulnerable segments who may require further support, including our senior workers and lower-wage workers. Over the last decade, the proportion of active CPF members attaining their cohort Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) at age 55 has improved from about five in 10 to almost seven in 10 today. We expect this number to increase to about eight in 10 in 2027.”
“I have explained before that doing so will affect the business of these firms and potentially hinder their effort to improve their practices. So, instead, our approach is to have TAFEP work with them to improve their practices. Rest assured that MOM will continue to take fair consideration seriously and I will elaborate on our efforts under the Workplace Fairness Legislation in the second part of my speech. Mr Desmond Choo and Mr Cheng Hsing Yao have also suggested calibrating our foreign workforce policies further to address issues such as insufficient locals in certain sectors, or in anticipation of our ageing population. We already do so today. Sectors such as construction and process have higher foreign worker quotas, as we recognise that fewer locals join these sectors and we exercise flexibilities to better support essential services like healthcare and the cleaning of public housing. Our moves announced last year also took on a more nuanced and targeted approach. For instance, businesses that contribute to our strategic economic priorities can tap on the Manpower for Strategic Economic Priorities (M-SEP) scheme to access additional quotas. Another example is the Non-Traditional Source (NTS) Occupation List. Members would recall that I announced this last year to allow employers in the Services and Manufacturing sectors to hire Work Permit Holders from NTS countries for seven occupational types. This NTS Occupation List is intended to help firms adjust to the S Pass qualifying salary and levy increases. We will hence implement the NTS Occupation List on 1 September this year. Employers who wish to hire NTS Work Permit Holders will be subject to a sub-quota of 8% and a fixed monthly salary criterion of at least $2,000.”
“The Strategic Economic Priorities (SEP) Bonus was designed together with MTI and participating economic agencies as well as the Labour Movement, NTUC. This is a highly selective bonus which supports firms that are contributing to Singapore's strategic economic priorities through ambitious investment, innovation, internationalisation, or company and workforce transformation activities. Economic agencies will work with firms receiving the SEP Bonus to pursue these needle-moving economic priorities and who are able to demonstrate their commitment to developing our local workforce. NTUC will work with firms on company and workforce transformation efforts, for example, by establishing Company Training Committees (CTCs) to chart out worker upskilling plans. Firms receiving the SEP bonus would be expected to maintain healthy workforce profiles on nationality diversity and local PMET employment, as a condition for renewal. Full details on the bonus criteria will be released on MOM’s website by the end of March. Mr Patrick Tay asked for an update on the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF). Since 2016, MOM has engaged a total of more than 1,800 employers under the FCF. As I announced during last year's COS debate, COMPASS builds on our current efforts under the FCF, by applying firm-related attributes at the point of application. Once COMPASS is rolled out, the FCF Watchlist will be re-purposed to focus on firms scoring poorly on the firm-related attributes. The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) will conduct workshops for these firms to highlight measures that firms can take to improve their hiring practices. Mr Tay also asked to publish the list of companies with weak workforce profiles.”
“We will be releasing further details on the two bonus criteria, the Skills Bonus (Criterion 5) and the Strategic Economic Priorities Bonus (Criterion 6) later this month. Applicants meeting the respective criteria will earn bonus points towards their total COMPASS score. The Skills Bonus is accorded to EP applicants in occupations on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). The SOL identifies occupations requiring niche and highly specialised skills in short supply within our workforce and which are critical to sustaining investments in both key growth or strategic priority areas. Mr Gerald Giam asked for an update on the occupations expected to be included in the SOL. MOM, in consultation with sector agencies, is finalising the inaugural SOL. I would like to assure Mr Giam that the evaluation process is a rigorous one, taking into account quantitative metrics of shortage alongside various qualitative factors. One key consideration is ensuring that sector agencies have worked with industry to put in place plans to develop the local pipeline for these good jobs, including working with our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to equip graduates with the necessary skills, as well as developing and upskilling those already in the sector or adjacent roles. Where relevant, the sector agencies also obtained input from industry partners and unions. The SOL will include specialised roles spanning areas such as tech, healthcare and sustainability, where there are global shortages of skilled professionals. The SOL will be reviewed regularly, with a major refresh every three years. This ensures that the SOL is responsive to industry developments while preserving enough certainty and runway for businesses.”
“The S Pass minimum qualifying salary will be raised from $3,000 to $3,150. The qualifying salary for older S Pass holders will be higher, given that local APT wages rise with age. The S Pass Tier 1 levy will also increase from the current $450 to $550 in September 2023. Employers will be able to find these details on the MOM website. COMPASS – a new, transparent and holistic assessment framework for EP applicants – will be applied to new EP applications from September this year. COMPASS incentivises firms to strengthen their local workforce, complemented by a high quality and diverse foreign workforce. We have released details on the four foundational criteria progressively over the past one year. Firms now have access to a Workforce Insights Tool on MyMOMPortal, where they can see how they fare on the firm-level criteria of COMPASS and benchmark their performance to industry peers. Members may recall that under the COMPASS framework, applicants can score points under Criterion 2 on "Qualifications". Today, employers are already responsible for ensuring the authenticity of their candidate's qualifications before hiring. To safeguard against gaming by submitting fraudulent educational qualifications, employers who wish to score points under Criterion 2 on qualifications, will be required to submit verification proof for qualifications declared on the EP application. We have consulted tripartite partners as well as industry associations and we will implement this new process in September 2023 together with COMPASS. We will share more details in due course. Rest assured we will ensure smooth implementation and we will minimise disruptions to employers' hiring process.”
“15 pm Through her leadership, she will catalyse our local community of research scientists, academics and industry professionals to tackle complex challenges in skin disease and skin health for the benefit of Singapore and Singaporeans. These are just a few examples. We look forward to the valuable contributions that our ONE Pass holders will bring and the opportunities that they will create for Singaporeans. As Mr Raj Joshua Thomas, Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Mr Yip Hon Weng highlighted, it is key for our foreign workforce to complement our local workforce to drive our local economy. We would also like to assure Mr Yip that MOM collaborates closely with agencies such as MTI and MND to ensure that our economic growth is sustainable, as we maintain a balance between our various objectives. At the last Committee of Supply (COS) debate, I announced significant changes to our foreign workforce policies to strengthen the complementarity of our foreign workforce. Our focus has been on implementing these changes well. Allow me to give you a quick update. To ensure that foreigners coming in on these passes are of the right calibre, we have benchmarked the cost of hiring an Employment Pass and S Pass holder to the wages of the top one-third of local Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) and the local Associate Professionals and Technicians (APTs) respectively. With these clear benchmarks, employers can expect regular and predictable adjustments to the EP and S Pass qualifying salaries and levies. This year, there will be no change to the EP qualifying salary. We will, however, proceed with the second step of the increase to the S Pass qualifying salary and Tier 1 levy in September 2023, as I had announced last year.”
“This also creates more opportunities for other companies in the ecosystem and in turn creates more good jobs for Singaporeans at every level of the workforce, creating a virtuous cycle. Mr Raj Joshua Thomas asked about how we will continue to attract top talent to Singapore. Last year, I announced the Overseas Networks and Expertise Pass (ONE Pass) for talent earning at least $30,000 in fixed monthly salary, which comparable to the top 5% of EP holders, or those with outstanding achievements in arts and culture, sports, research and academia. This was a highly targeted enhancement to attract top talent in diverse fields so that we can keep ahead of the competition. I am happy to say that we have received many promising applications so far from a diverse group of accomplished individuals across sectors. I would like to share two examples of ONE Pass holders who are making or who have the potential to make positive contributions to Singapore. Ms Yuki Yasui is the managing director of the Asia Pacific network at the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, a global coalition of leading financial institutions committed to accelerating the decarbonisation of the economy. Ms Yasui plays a key role in driving decarbonisation in Singapore, including helping financial institutions draw up their net-zero transition plans and mobilising finance to support decarbonisation efforts in key industry sectors such as energy, cement and steel. We also have Prof Rachel Watson, who joined A*STAR this month as the Executive Director of the A*STAR Skin Research Labs and the Skin Research Institute of Singapore. Prof Watson is internationally renowned in dermatology. 3.”
“Besides supporting workers to reskill and upskill, we need to build a more inclusive labour market that rewards mastery of skills in different areas. Our labour market must also provide multiple pathways to success to cater to different interests and inclinations. Our society has traditionally valued "head" work much more than "hands-on" work and "heart" work, contributing to occupational wage disparity. But "hands-on" work – the craft required to make something well, to fix a complex machine – is just as important for our society to function, as Mr Edward Chia and Mr Pritam Singh have also highlighted Many of these "hands-on" jobs require deep skills too. We are partnering NTUC to look into how we can redesign skilled trades, particularly those that remain indispensable in our future economy, to offer better salaries, clearer career and skill progression ladders and other ways to attract, retain and reward workers in these jobs. Over time, if we are able to shift the prospects and perceptions of such jobs and offer attractive career pathways for skilled trades, we will be able to increase the number of locals in these roles in a sustainable way. More details on this initiative will be shared at a later date when the Forward Singapore exercise concludes. A crucial aspect of how we create good opportunities for local workers is by having a vibrant, growing economy that is open to international investments, companies and talent. Working alongside global talent and in top companies means locals have access to more opportunities to take on challenging assignments and to move up in their careers.”
“One example is the Food Manufacturing JTM launched by Enterprise Singapore in December 2022, which identified emerging job roles such as novel foods technical manager, and set out pathways to redesign jobs. Workers can reskill themselves via programmes such as the CCP for Food Manufacturing Professionals and Associates and SkillsFuture Work-Study Programmes to move into emerging or redesigned roles. There will be more JTMs launched this year. There is tremendous potential to harness data and AI to provide you more personalised jobs and skill insights. This can help to improve job matching and allow you to better plan what next steps you can take – either to take a course to upskill, to make a career switch or to progress in your career. I am happy to announce we will launch a new CareersFinder feature on the MyCareersFuture portal in the third quarter of 2023. CareersFinder is a job and skills recommender. We have heard feedback that some of our workers prefer to explore job opportunities and skills upgrading at the same time as they are inter-related. CareersFinder is the first step to try and integrate job and training recommenders. It uses data on skill adjacencies and job transitions in the labour market to help jobseekers to identify potential career opportunities, personalised based on their individual profiles and recommend suitable training programmes to help them achieve their career goals. CareersFinder is a new feature, which will be launched in a beta version, but it will become more powerful as the data grows. We will continue to enhance it over time to make it even more responsive to jobseekers' needs. Individuals who wish to find out more about CareersFinder can also register their interest via WSG's website.”
“But for this to work, workers need to keep up with their career health so that they are better prepared for setbacks and they are more ready to pick themselves up. One way MOM is helping to improve awareness on career health is through the Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs). These JTMs provide detailed insights on the impact of technology and automation on jobs in each sector. Prof Hoon Hian Teck and Mr Sharael Taha asked about how we ensure our workforce is globally competitive, including how to cope with threats arising from artificial intelligence (AI). These JTMs provide detailed insights on the impact of technology and automation on jobs in each sector. The JTMs will empower you to take control of your career development and progression by giving you information on the critical skill sets you will need to stay relevant and competitive. Mr Cheng Hsing Yao, Ms Janet Ang and Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked how MOM can support our businesses to grow and cope with manpower shortages. Fundamentally, to cope with the manpower crunch, businesses must continue to transform, to increase their productivity and to improve manpower efficiency. The Government remains committed to supporting businesses and workers to achieve this. The JTMs will guide businesses on how they can transform their businesses and their jobs to remain competitive and resilient. To find out more, you can access the JTMs on WSG's website. For individuals, you can also find resources there to reskill, upskill or embark on career transitions. To date, 10 JTMs have been completed, with eight additional JTMs in progress.”
“We have worked with the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) to convene a Citizens' Panel on employment resilience and convene a group of citizens to discuss, to propose ideas to increase career mobility and to help workers to bounce back from setbacks such as unemployment. The Citizens' Panel will conclude its work by the end of March and I look forward to hearing their recommendations. Having heard from many fellow Singaporeans so far, I hear a common theme. Whether you are starting out in your career, whether you are in your mid-career or in a later stage of your career, you aspire to improve your career prospects. Better career health is key to helping our workers move up the career ladder, stay current and stay employable, or it facilitates them to be able to switch to a new job that can better match their skills and their interests. I spoke about career health when I launched the Citizens' Panel last month. Just like physical health, career health has three aspects. One, having better insights and awareness. We need to be more sensitised and to be more aware of our career prospects, relative to how the industry and the economy is growing or transforming. Two, taking deliberate and purposeful actions to keep up our career health. Information is only meaningful if we process it and we act on it. This means taking pre-emptive and proactive steps to stay ahead of the competition and being ready to seize new opportunities when they come. Three, how do we bounce back from setbacks? Sometimes, in spite of whatever we do, curve balls will still come our way, out of the blue. We are thinking about how to give a stronger helping hand to help workers to bounce back stronger and better from setbacks.”
“In 2022, WSG supported about 1,900 workers through CCPs and another 1,100 through SGUP. One such individual is Mr Noor Hashim, a 50-year-old who was previously an independent systems security auditor with a local security auditor company. He wanted to explore career options in the IT industry and he signed up for a six-month course under the SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme. Equipped with his new tech skills, Mr Hashim applied for the SGUP Programme on the MyCareersFuture website in September 2022. He landed an attachment role as an IT cloud and infrastructure specialist with the host organisation, Swiz Technologies. During this six-month attachment, Swiz Technologies provided on-the-job training, including step-by-step demonstrations, to help him understand how to perform the job tasks of an IT cloud and infrastructure specialist. I am glad to hear that based on his strong performance in the attachment programme, Mr Hashim will be converted to a full-time staff with Swiz Technologies this month. Ultimately, MOM is here to support Singaporeans' career aspirations. That is why we have been engaging and speaking to Singaporeans from all walks of life to understand their aspirations and their anxieties about the economy and jobs. These conversations under Forward Singapore have allowed us to come together to forge a new social compact. A social compact has to be mutually reinforcing, mutually consolidating. It is a two-way dialogue so that we can take in your responses and forge a new compact together.”
“To complement the NJC's work, I set up the Jobs Taskforce in September 2021 with the specific goal of helping more locals enter new jobs in 10 key sectors such as information and communications, manufacturing and financial services. Mr Abdul Samad would be happy to know that through customised efforts targeted at key sectors, we helped place more than 11,000 locals into new jobs in these sectors. The NJC and the Jobs Taskforce's achievements are a testament to the calibre and the agility of our local workers. MOM and WSG will continue to help Singaporeans pivot to new jobs and new careers. For example, WSG offers many Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs). CCPs provide salary and training support to employers to reskill new hires and workers for new or redesigned jobs. In 2022, WSG launched several new CCPs for emerging jobs such as sustainability specialist, carbon project developer and customer intelligence analyst. Miss Cheng Li Hui asked how we are helping SMEs with hiring. SMEs can tap on the full suite of programmes offered by WSG. In particular, WSG has designed the CCP for SME executives to meet the specific needs of SME hires. This programme helps new employees acclimatise to an SME working environment. Mr Desmond Choo and Mr Patrick Tay would like to know how we can better support mature workers, including PMEs, in their employment and employability. I appreciate that mature workers may find it slightly more challenging to switch careers. Hence, the CCPs provide an even higher level of support – 90% of salary and training costs – for mature workers aged 40 and above. To provide more options for mature workers, WSG also offers SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways (SGUP), which provides full-time attachments with an allowance for those aged 40 and over.”
“We must work in solidarity to secure safer, fairer and more progressive workplaces. We will continue to improve employment opportunities for women, for persons with disabilities and ex-offenders. Minister of State Gan Siow Huang will elaborate on these in her speech. We will also continue with the efforts to improve safety in the work place and this will be covered by Senior Minister of State Zaqy in his speech as well. Let me start by sharing how we are empowering Singaporeans to take on good jobs. We have a strong and vibrant economy that has shown its resilience through COVID-19. We have an exciting vision to continue transforming our economy. To seize these opportunities, Singaporeans will need to stay open to new challenges and careers, and continuously upskill and equip themselves with future skills. MOM and the Government will be there with you every step of the way in this journey to improve your career prospects. 3.00 pm During COVID-19, the Government stood up the National Jobs Council (NJC) to provide jobs and skill opportunities amidst a deep recession and a weak labour market. From April 2020 to April 2022, the combined efforts of the Government, the unions and the employers supported the placement of around 200,000 locals under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, out of which around 150,000 were placed into permanent jobs, with the rest placed into traineeships and attachment opportunities. WSG and NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute's 24 SGUnited Jobs and Skills Centres across the country were also able to assist and place 3,400 jobseekers in 2022.”
“We want you and we invite you to join us on this journey of transformation, and this is why we have been engaging Singaporeans to understand their aspirations, their angst about the economy, their anxieties about the economy and jobs under the Forward Singapore exercise. It is against this backdrop that MOM's priorities for this Committee of Supply (COS) will centre on three main themes. First, seizing opportunities with you. Number two, strengthening support for you. And last but not least, securing better workplaces with you. First, we will seize opportunities with Singaporeans by supporting them to improve their career prospects and their resilience, so that they will be empowered to take on good jobs. At the same time, we will continue to be open to workers of the right calibre and in areas where we need them, so that our businesses can build the best team of local and foreign talents to grow. Our growth should also be inclusive and enable all segments of our workers to reap the economic benefits. Hence, our second focus is to strengthen support for Singaporeans' retirement adequacy by enhancing the Central Provident Fund (CPF) system, so that they can have peace of mind in their golden years. We will also press on with our whole-of-society effort to provide greater support for platform workers, lower-wage workers and senior workers, by protecting their interests at work. Senior Ministers of State Koh Poh Koon and Zaqy Mohamad will elaborate more on our efforts on this front in their respective speeches. And finally, every one of us desires and deserves a fair opportunity to contribute and thrive at work, which brings me to our third focus, and that is to act collectively as one united society.”
“If your interest is in hands-on work, you can be assured of more opportunities to achieve and to be rewarded for the mastery of those skills. And as you approach retirement, you can be assured that if you have worked and contributed consistently to your CPF, you will be able to meet your basic retirement needs in your golden years. We will leverage our continued economic growth to provide good jobs for you. We will improve and continue to improve, your employment outcomes. And even in the midst of this uncertainty, there are significant opportunities that we can continue to capitalise on. I shared in my speech with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) yesterday, on how we have a suite of programmes to promote talent development in our enterprises. For those starting out in their careers, there is the Singapore Global Executive Programme (SGEP) to support fresh and recent graduates to pursue structured career progression pathways in high-growth companies. The Global Ready Talent (GRT) programme also helps to build a talent pipeline by co-funding local young talent, to take on both local and overseas internships. The Tech@SG pilot has also created more than 1,500 local jobs in tech startups in the past three years since launch. And for senior leaders of our promising SMEs, the Enterprise Leadership for Transformation (ELT) programme also helps them to develop their business strategies and leadership capabilities. With the ever-changing economy, we need to continue to press on with economic transformation, to allow us to emerge stronger and to seize new opportunities for Singaporeans.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank our Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) Members of Parliament and the others, who have taken an active interest in MOM's work and spoken in support of our workers and our businesses. Our labour market posted strong growth last year. Total employment grew by more than 200,000 in 2022, surpassing its pre-pandemic level by 3%. Resident employment is already 4.4% above 2019 levels. Resident unemployment rates have recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels. Resident wages also increased at a faster rate. The nominal median income of full-time employed residents grew by 8.3% in 2021. [Please refer to the clarification further in the debate.] It is more than double that of the previous year of 3.2% and even after adjusting for inflation, the real median income growth in 2022 was more than double that of 2021. However, we are at multiple crossroads, the uncertain global economic environment, global inflation and geopolitical challenges in the medium term, will weigh on the labour market going forward. I hear your concerns about what this means for you and how it will impact your jobs, especially for older workers. But rest assured, we will journey with you every step of the way. Whether you are in your early 20s or 30s, or whether you are in your mid-40s or your late-50s, we will empower you to find and work towards new opportunities. But we need your help, your support to take the first step, to move forward, to improve your career prospects. If you want a career change, you can be assured of the support we will provide you to upskill and to reskill. If you fall out of employment, you can be assured that we will step in, to help you in your job search.”
“Unless the Members of the House want to exercise their right to disconnect.”
“Support is also provided directly to households under the Assurance Package, where they can use the Community Development Council vouchers to offset their purchase of cooked food.”
“The Workfare Income Supplement scheme encourages lower-income Singaporean workers, including Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) like hawkers, to work and build up their retirement savings. SEPs can receive up to $2,800 in Workfare payments each year to supplement their incomes as well as MediSave savings. Workfare is not meant to offset business cost increases for SEPs. All SEPs, including hawkers who meet the eligibility criteria, will receive Workfare payments automatically without needing to apply. About 50% of stallholders in markets and hawker centres received Workfare for work done in 2020.1 The majority of the remaining stallholders did not receive Workfare because they were not eligible, for example, they earned more than the prevailing income threshold or did not meet the age criterion, while a minority did not make the required MediSave contributions in order to receive Workfare. The requirement to contribute to MediSave ensures that SEPs take personal responsibility in saving for their healthcare needs, especially in retirement, while receiving support through Workfare. The CPF Board gives SEPs the flexibility to contribute to their MediSave within two years after the end of the work year. CPF Board regularly engages lower-income SEPs about Workfare. Letters are sent in all four languages to remind SEPs who are eligible for Workfare to make the required MediSave contributions. Workfare is also publicised through the Ministry of Manpower and CPF Board's websites as well as social media campaigns. To sustain our hawker trade, all stakeholders can play a part. Besides Workfare, the Government supports stallholders by providing a conducive business environment, such as keeping our rentals low.”
“I will answer the second question. I thank the Member for his clarification. To support our energy transition, there are a couple of initiatives that we are doing. One, obviously, is, as I have said in my speech, in terms of coming up with our energy market structure where we require the generation companies (gencos), in terms of the upgrading of CCGTs, to move to a more energy-efficient and lower emission, type of newer generation CCGTs. As a result of that we will request for proposals and interests. The change in terms of the markets, in terms of our regulation, allows us to plant that capacity, in the event that our existing gencos do not want to participate in it. If you talked about the kind of costing, at this particular point in time, given the fact that as a result of providing more market certainty to all of our gencos, we think that there is a higher chance of them participating in the RFP to build these new CCGTs. On the second part of it, in terms of our resilience, given the heightened uncertainties, the volatilities in the energy market, we need to also ramp up our capacity for standby facility. For instance, we have a standby LNG storage facility to ensure that we will not in any way be compromised if there are shortages in terms of the global supply chain. The third part is that we will also continue to invest in our grid development as well as energy storage systems and in terms of building interconnectors, when we import renewable energy from around the region. We will be providing more insights throughout the year in successive meetings. I hope that gives you a bit of a preamble as to what is to come.”
“The names of our public holidays are well established and understood. Therefore, there is no need for guidelines.”
“I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. The first point, in terms of the studies' findings for low-skilled workers, is that up to a certain point, the studies have shown that, if you tighten at the lower-skilled segment, the net result is that we do get substitution and our locals can take on these jobs, but at slightly higher levels. To a point. Because of the size of our population and the size of our workforce, up to a point, if you continue to tighten, it can actually have a worse-off effect for the development of our country, in terms of our economic progress, as well as industry development. For the higher-skilled, again, you cannot infer from the studies that for higher-skilled workers, we are not doing enough to produce high calibre, local Singapore talent. We are already doing significantly more to improve their prospects, in terms of moving them, in terms of investing in their training, and in upskilling and upgrading. But again, because of the fact that there are all these accelerating changes, economies and industries are evolving very rapidly, and coupled with that, significant disruptions are happening. So, to keep pace and to keep ahead pre-emptively, in terms of making sure that we are ahead of the competition, we not only need to develop our own local talent, we will also need foreign workers to come alongside with us and complement us as we move forward. I hope that answers the Member's question. 10.58 pm”
“To ensure good employment outcomes for Singaporeans, it is important that our policies enable firms to access foreign workers who can complement the local workforce, so that firms can grow and can create more opportunities for locals. To support policymaking, the Government regularly conducts impact assessment studies on a range of policies, and of course, this includes foreign workforce policies. The Government publishes some of these studies every quarter through the Economic Survey of Singapore. One key finding of our internal studies on foreign workforce policies is that tightening access to lower-skilled foreign workers is more likely to have a positive impact on local employment outcomes, compared to tightening access to higher-skilled foreign workers. This is because businesses will then be able to substitute lower-skilled but cheaper foreign workers with locals, and therefore, improve their production processes accordingly. This has informed our approach of remaining open to high-quality, foreign professionals, while maintaining a disciplined stance in regulating the number of Work Permit holders through quotas and also levies. It is important to note that these studies are but just one input to the policymaking process. These studies have their limitations, for example, they are unable to account for less quantifiable effects of having foreigners in our workforce, such as the knowledge spillovers to locals and other network effects. The impact of the interventions studied might also change if they are applied beyond a certain scale or at a different time period. As such, they need to be interpreted carefully alongside other sources of information, including more recent labour market statistics, as well as industry feedback.”
“We do not have data on the number of Work Permit holders not living in dormitories who are paid salaries electronically. The Ministry of Manpower has given priority to implement electronic payment of salaries to Work Permit holders living in dormitories. This involves verification that employers have been complying and following up with non-compliant employers. We will continue our discussions with the tripartite partners about extending the requirements for electronic payment of salaries to more workers in the future.”
“MOM also works with the Institute for Human Resource Professionals and the Singapore National Employers Federation to emphasise the need for employers to adopt fair employment practices and not to discriminate against any group, including stay-at-home-mums returning to work, in line with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices.”
“There is no recognised definition of stay-at-home mums. However, a good proxy would be women who are not looking for work because they have to take care of their own children aged 12 & below. Based on data from the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, the size of this group of women was 39,100 in 2022. Additionally, there were 2,400 unemployed women actively looking for jobs who had previously left their jobs to take care of their children1. Stay-at-home mums who need support to re-enter the workforce can tap on Workforce Singapore’s (WSG) full suite of employment facilitation programmes and services. Those who need a skills top-up can apply for Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs), which provide significant salary support to employers to provide training for their new hires to take on the new job role. With the breadth and variety of place-and-train CCPs available – close to 100 across around 30 sectors – they can choose from many options, depending on their career interests. Stay-at-home mums who have not been employed for at least six months, or are aged 40 years old and above, are eligible for higher salary support of up to 90% under CCPs. Stay-at-home mums who need job search assistance can visit WSG’s Careers Connect and NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute’s career centres for career advisory and guidance to learn how to better position their skills and experience to potential employers and recruiters. Employers too have to play their part to help those who have been away from the workforce for some time to ease back into the workplace. By doing so, employers can tap into this segment of the labour force and the transferable skills and experiences that they may have acquired in their earlier careers.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) implements various measures upstream to screen out employers who may not have the means or intention to pay the declared salary. From 2018 to 2022, MOM investigated 167 companies for potential contraventions of the Employment Pass (EP) salary criteria. Of these, 10 companies were investigated for making unauthorised salary deductions from EP holders.”
“Employers can tap on training support under the Workfare Skills Support Scheme to send lower-wage workers for Workforce Skills Qualifications or in-house training. We will also support workers who want to consider new careers. Singaporeans can also tap on CCPs to switch careers. I know that this can be more challenging for mature workers, and hence the CCPs provide a higher tier of support to employers who hire mature workers aged 40 and above. In 2022, WSG supported close to 1,900 mature workers through CCPs. The SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme offers an attachment pathway to help mature workers to navigate a mid-career switch. The Government has extended the Senior Employment Credit and Part-time Re-employment Grant. These schemes support the hiring of older workers and incentivise the provision of structured career planning, as well as part-time re-employment and other flexible work arrangements. Structured career planning will help employers map out future business needs and help their workers identify and develop the necessary skills to pivot with the company. The Government will continue to work closely with our tripartite partners to support companies and workers in their transformation journey. Enterprise and workforce transformation are mutually reinforcing and should move in step. For example, I encourage companies to work with NTUC to set up Company Training Committees (CTC) and tap on the NTUC CTC grant to transform business processes, redesign jobs, and improve work prospects for their workers. Employers can also seek the assistance of the Singapore National Employers Federation, Singapore Business Federation, and other trade associations and chambers, to tap on programmes to reskill workers and redesign jobs.”
“Automation and other technological advancements will transform jobs to varying degrees. Simpler job tasks may be automated, leaving more complex tasks that will still require humans to perform. This creates opportunities to enlarge job scopes and create higher value jobs for our workers. To seize these opportunities, workers will need to be prepared. That is why the Ministry of Manpower, together with sector agencies, have launched Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs). These JTMs, provide detailed insights on the impact of technology and automation on jobs in each sector so that employers and workers can take necessary steps to upskill for jobs of the future. Since 2019, we have launched 10 JTMs, and eight more are in development. A recent example is the Food Manufacturing JTM launched by Enterprise Singapore in December 2022. The JTM identified that workers in job roles such as Production Operators would need to undergo reskilling, as manual tasks such as transporting food products could be automated by conveyor systems. The Operators would need to learn to perform more complex tasks such as machine troubleshooting. The Government will support employers and workers who are prepared to upskill for such new or redesigned jobs. Workforce Singapore has been working closely with sector agencies and employers to mount Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs), which provide substantial salary support for employers to reskill their existing workers at-risk of redundancy, and redeploy them to new or redesigned job roles within the company. For lower-skilled, lower-wage workers, the Progressive Wage Model sets out wage and skill ladders for workers to upskill for larger job roles.”
“The Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) provides members with lifelong payouts that cover a basic level of retirement expenses. Thus, attainment of the BRS is the relevant indicator for basic retirement adequacy. Those who prefer a higher payout can choose to set aside more CPF savings to the amount of the Full Retirement Sum (FRS) instead of maintaining only the BRS in their Retirement Account if they own property. About 33% of active CPF members who turned 55 in 2022 had not set aside the Full Retirement Sum in cash, or in cash and property1. Of these members, about 45% (6,100) are male and about 55% (7,300) are female. Older cohorts of female members tend to have less CPF savings than male members as the labour force participation rate and median income for females were lower historically. As employment outcomes for both males and females have improved over time, members are earning and saving more. Hence, over the next five years, we estimate that the proportion of active CPF members who do not set aside the FRS would reduce from about 33% (13,400) to about 24% (11,500).”
“Over the past five years, 66% of CPF members who reached their Payout Eligibility Age (PEA) have deferred the start of their monthly payouts beyond their PEA. Among these members, about 46% were working when they reached their PEA.1 For members who did not defer the start of their monthly retirement payouts beyond their PEA, about 58% were working when they reached their PEA.”
“As announced at Budget 2023, the Government will raise the CPF Ordinary Wage ceiling to $8,000 by 2026 to keep up with increases in salaries of Singaporean workers. This will be done in four phases to allow employers and employees to adjust to the changes. The CPF salary ceilings will be reviewed and adjustments will be made as necessary to ensure that they continue to cover the broad majority of resident workers.”
“Retrenchments should be a last resort, and selection of employees to be retrenched should be based on objective criteria with primary considerations given to employee merit and preserving skills to ensure business sustainability. Employers should also take a long-term view of their manpower needs, including the need to maintain a strong Singaporean core. This means that retrenchments should generally not result in a reduced proportion of local employees. In summary, MOM does not and should not micro-manage how the job market functions by directly and arbitrarily adjusting the number of EPs and S Passes issued in response to business fluctuations. Adopting such a protectionist measure would cause significant business uncertainty, and undermine Singapore’s reputation as a transparent, competitive, and reliable location for businesses. It would go against how we have thrived over the decades by being an open economy and a business hub. Instead, we have a comprehensive suite of measures in place that allows us to attract more investments, and grow the pie to create many more good jobs and career choices for Singaporeans.”
“When it comes to our foreign workforce policies, MOM has set a quality benchmark for EP and S Pass holders to be pegged to the top one-third of local Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) and Associate Professionals and Technicians (APTs) respectively. This ensures that firms do not turn to cheaper options as a first resort, to ride out a business downturn. Firms are also incentivised to hire and retain locals. Specifically, with the upcoming introduction of the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) at the EP level, firms with a low local PMET share relative to industry peers will score fewer points on COMPASS and will face a harder time getting the points required for their EP applications. For the S Pass, we have in place the S Pass sub-Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC), or quota. This quota is calculated based on a firm’s total workforce, including how many locals the firm hires. Hence, should the firm’s total workforce fall when locals are amongst those retrenched, the S Pass quota available to the firm would decrease and the firm will not be able to hire as many S Pass holders as before. Finally, under the Fair Consideration Framework, employers are also required to advertise on MyCareersFuture and fairly consider all candidates for the job, before submitting an application for an EP or S Pass holder. Our foreign workforce policies are complemented by other measures to ensure local employment outcomes are safeguarded during downturns. For instance, the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment (TAMEM) provides guidance to companies on managing excess manpower.”
“In the last few months, there have been several Parliamentary Questions filed by Members regarding retrenchments by tech companies. Recent news about retrenchments by big tech companies has understandably caused some concerns on the outlook of the Information & Communications (I&C) sector. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is closely monitoring the situation. Based on the latest available data as of September 2022, total employment in the I&C sector grew by 13,700 in the first three quarters of 2022. The number of job vacancies in the I&C sector at 9,300 in September 2022 was also higher than that observed in the same period in 2021. However, global headwinds may weigh on labour demand in the near term and we expect to see a dampening in hiring demand and a slower increase in total employment in Q4 2022. Even so, we remain cautiously optimistic about the long-term prospects of the I&C sector as tech firms continue to pursue opportunities in Southeast Asia’s growing digital economy from Singapore. Tech skills also continue to be in high demand both within and beyond the I&C sector as the pace of digitalisation accelerates across our economy. That said, I will address the second part of the Member’s query, which suggests that MOM should reduce the number of Employment Passes (EPs) or S Passes issued in the event the I&C sector shrinks. Singapore's economy is open and connected. It is only natural that changes in external demand in the global economy have an impact on our companies, and on our job market. We have designed our policies to safeguard good local employment outcomes across the business cycle.”
“We started collecting data, through our labour force surveys, since 2021 on the number of people who are not in the labour force because they are caring for their parents. For the last two years, this has been at around 12,000 each year, or 1% of all residents outside the labour force. As our labour force surveys are cross-sectional and not longitudinal, we do not have data on the number of individuals who had left the labour force and subsequently returned.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. Moving forward, EMA intends to require all retailers to hedge at least 80% of their retail contract quantity on a rolling 24-month forward basis. Retailers would have to provide a performance bond, to cover their projected residual unhedged quantities. This increased hedging requirements are intended to increase the resilience of retailers during periods of market volatility. To the Member's point about the retailers, it is really a market condition. But there are multiple ways that retailers can meet EMA's increased hedging requirements. Besides the electricity futures market, retailers can also enter into contract for different Contracts-for-Difference, which suppliers with physical generation assets such as generation companies, waste to energy plants or solar providers. The enhancements are needed as I mentioned in my reply earlier on, to give our users more assurance that their retailers will operate prudently and that their contracts will be on it. MTI and EMA have carefully calibrated enhancements to ensure that any cost impact is reasonable. The whole purpose of this public consultation exercise, with both the public and industry on these enhancements – the proposed enhancements to the regulatory framework – is to garner the feedback and we will consider what other suggestions from this consultation very carefully and fine-tune these proposed enhancements as needed. I hope that gives the reassurance to the hon Member of Parliament.”
“They are required to put in place measures to minimise potential conflicts amongst residents and respond swiftly to manage any incident affecting the safety, security or well-being of residents. MOM takes a serious view on civil disturbances in the dormitories by any migrant worker using violence and will revoke the work pass and permanently bar them from employment in Singapore.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) pays close attention and emphasis to ensure harmonious relations amongst migrant workers living in dormitories through various measures. First, all newly arrived work permit holders are required to attend the Settling-in Programme (SIP) to introduce them to Singapore laws and social norms, including the importance of living and working harmoniously with people of different races and religions. The SIP is conducted in the workers’ native languages to aid understanding. MOM also works closely with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), dormitory operators, employers, and community partners to organise regular social activities for our migrant workers at the dormitories and the Recreation Centres. This includes festive occasions such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa and Deepavali and the International Migrants’ Day where migrant workers regardless of nationalities and ethnicities can participate in these cultural and religious celebrations. These activities serve as an opportunity for migrant workers of different nationalities to be more aware and appreciate different cultures. To deepen engagement and strengthen social support for our migrant workers, MOM had established the Friends of ACE (FACE) Network, which comprise of migrant worker volunteers who serve as a bridge between their peers and MOM. These FACE volunteers who are residents in the dormitories can identify and surface ground sentiments and concerns for early intervention. To maintain a safe and harmonious living environment, dormitory operators are mindful and alert to the religious and cultural sensitivities of the various ethnic groups.”
“Around 207,000 residents aged 65 and over were employed in 2022, equivalent to an employment rate of 31%. This is high compared to OECD countries and is probably the result of the high life expectancy of Singaporeans. The breakdown by their incomes is in the table below. A third of the 207,000 employed residents aged 65 and over were working part-time. In particular, of the employed residents aged 65 and over who earned less than $2,500 per month, 42% of them were part-time workers. Part-time workers tend to earn less, considering fewer hours worked and the nature of jobs offered. The top five industries employing the most resident workers aged 65 and over in 2022 were wholesale and retail trade, administrative and support services, transportation and storage, accommodation and food services, and manufacturing.”
“MOM’s Forward Assurance and Support Teams (FAST), first deployed during the Circuit Breaker in 2020, proactively and regularly visit dormitories to engage migrant workers about their overall well-being, and work with both workers and dormitory operators to resolve issues pertaining to living conditions in a timely manner. In addition, MOM introduced the Primary Care Plan in April 2022, giving migrant workers access to quality and affordable primary healthcare services, including telemedicine that they can easily access from their dormitories.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has taken several steps over the past few years to improve living conditions and the health and safety of migrant workers. New dormitories approved from September 2021 onwards are required to meet enhanced living and public health standards such as larger living space per resident, in-room Wi-Fi facilities, en-suite toilets, better ventilation in rooms, dedicated bed spaces for isolation purposes, and wastewater surveillance. Six Quick Build Dormitories built in 2021 that meet these new standards continue to be in operation and provide accommodation to migrant workers. Furthermore, we are pressing on with plans to build more Purpose-Built Dormitories (PBDs), which will adhere to the new standards. MOM will also be building and owning two new PBDs, which will be operated by a new corporate entity in partnership with the private sector. These dormitories will have enhanced features that build on the improved standards for new dormitories. They will also provide MOM with the opportunity to innovate and pilot new ideas for public health resilience and dormitory living to improve the lived experience of migrant workers. MOM is currently working closely with stakeholders to develop a transition plan for existing dormitories to transit to improved standards. This will take into consideration what existing infrastructure in the dormitories can support, as well as the potential disruptions to dormitory bed supply. MOM will announce the transition plan when ready. MOM also actively inspects dormitories and proactively addresses issues concerning living conditions.”
“Based on MOM’s survey in 2022, 34% of employed residents had worked from home at some point in the month they were surveyed. Telecommuting is but one of many types of Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs), which also include flexi-time, flexi-shift and flexi-load arrangements. We encourage employers and employees to consider the whole range of FWAs. Tripartite Partners will continue to encourage and guide employers to implement FWAs at the workplace, in a way that meets the needs of both employers and employees.”
“This question has been addressed in the combined oral reply to Question Nos 40 and 41 on the Order Paper for 6 February 2023. [Please refer to "Workplace Fatalities Involving Hoisting Operations and Extension of Heightened Safety Period", Official Report, 6 February 2023, Vol 95, Issue 81, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]”