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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“Employers are responsible to pay for the medical expenses of their migrant workers incurred in Singapore. This is to ensure that migrant workers receive the necessary medical care when they are in Singapore. In cases involving medical emergencies, hospitals will provide prompt medical treatment without the need for a letter of guarantee (LOG) from the employer. Workers are provided such treatment, regardless of their employer’s ability to pay. As for non-emergency cases, hospitals may ask for LOGs before treatment, to be assured that employers are aware of their worker’s medical condition and are able to pay for the bill. Workers may approach MOM for assistance to speak to their employers if their employers refuse to provide an LOG, resulting in them not being able to receive the necessary medical treatment. MOM has also been reviewing the coverage of the medical insurance, including streamlining the billing arrangements, to better facilitate treatment for migrant workers and migrant domestic workers and better help employers manage the medical bills of these workers. We will provide an update on the review soon. For cases that do not require day surgeries or inpatient care, instead of visiting the hospital, migrant workers can access primary care services at regional medical centres or through 24/7 telemedicine consultations. The recently announced new primary healthcare system for migrant workers, including the Primary Care Plan, enables them to receive acute or chronic medical care that is accessible, affordable and in a timely manner.”
“I thank the Member for his question. The Ministry had provided an answer to his question a year ago. Since then, we have not undertaken any study on gender-neutral fertility leave. We have also not received any proposals from the research community to study this issue. As explained in the reply last year, researchers could apply to the Social Science Research Council if there is interest. We will conduct useful studies where we can, taking into account available resources. It is not realistic to undertake every study that is suggested. However, we welcome other stakeholders to conduct robust studies on issues of interest and share the findings to enrich the discussion.”
“MOM and the tripartite partners had issued an advisory to remind employers not to request employees who self-test ART-positive but are physically well or have mild symptoms to obtain a medical certificate for the purpose of taking paid sick leave. This will ensure that our healthcare capacity is not overloaded and is reserved to help those who truly need medical care. While many employers have followed the tripartite advisory, we have received feedback that some employers are still not complying with the advisory. MOM and MOH have since reiterated that employees who are at low risk and have mild symptoms should recover at home instead of seeing a doctor to obtain a medical certificate. If any employer continues to insist on medical certificates, employees should report the matter to MOM for further action to be taken.”
“Again, I thank Prof Lim as well as the Leader of the Opposition for their concerns. I am fine to take any number of questions and happy to engage because it is also good to clarify the points. As I have shared earlier on, in my speech, what the impression that we have taken in terms of where you have decided to load this is on the wealth tax portion, which seems to put a huge burden on a certain very small group of Singaporeans, and I question its sustainability. And hence, if you noticed that in my speech, I said consequentially, this will eventually end up having to be more spread out, in terms of having to be borne by more people. In terms of the philosophical differences, therefore my point to perhaps Assoc Prof Lim and the Workers' Party is that: do they now, having heard our explanation, decide that they support the GST hike and support the Budget. The other point is that Minister Wong will address a number of your points in his round-up speech tomorrow.”
“I think that Mr Singh missed my point. That may be a whole myriad of reasons why able-bodied Singaporeans cannot or are not prepared to commit to just two days of work a week. But we have already started the Progressive Wage Model. We have also gotten some of the other measures to help to uplift the lower-wage workers. And many of these schemes will take effect over the coming months. The $500 is fixed at this particular point in time. When that rising tide comes up, we will certainly see where this group of Singaporeans, who are still not affected, would fall into. I think that we can then review the policy. Just like what we have done constantly. If you look at the last few years, we have been constantly reviewing, improving and uplifting the framework. I will invite Senior Minister of State Mr Zaqy to further add to it.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, I will give a bit of the preamble and then, perhaps, can I request, I think Senior Minister of State Mr Zaqy Mohamad has a response as well.”
“I thank Mr Pritam Singh for the concern on spilling water on my shirt. It was actually because of the fact that it is a new flask, I did not figure out exactly how to press the right buttons yet. He has put up a series of questions, some of them, we will cover, for example, Workfare, in the upcoming debate under the MOM COS so I do not want to give too much of a preamble. In terms of the individual who works and gets less than $500, the current construct is that yes, in the absence of any other things, he or she would not qualify. But there is an entire plethora of help schemes available. There are also help groups available to try to understand where the bottlenecks are in terms of them being able to get a higher income or even get to that $500 mark. Suffice to say, the whole policy construct is to encourage, to nudge our local able-bodied Singaporeans towards gainful employment and also a higher sense of achievement. As far as the point about the taxes, the whole crux of this was for your team to consider that what you are proposing, consequentially, could result in very, very high disproportionate burden on the top 1% to 5%, that it is not sustainable and it is punitive. And, eventually, for us to sustain it, consequentially, this would end up percolating or pervading down to the upper middle-income and eventually affecting the middle-income as well. I am pretty sure the Minister for Finance in his round-up speech will cover more aspects of it. For the moment, I want to assure that our policies take a very measured and a very calibrated approach, designed for most people to be able to adjust and also be able to absorb some of these measures.”
“It will ultimately result in a system where our approach to revenue is just to squeeze anyone who does well from the middle-income upwards, potentially; where we tell Singaporeans, "Look, there is someone better off who can afford to take on all of the burden, you don't have to put in your share, or you don't have to put in your fair share." That is not good nor is it sustainable for our social compact. All of us have a stake in our society and we benefit from public services and from progressive policies. In fact, those with less would get back much more than what they pay in additional GST and we give generous help to those who need the help while everyone pays something. It is both an individual and our collective responsibility. And if we do what has been proposed and suggested, the middle-income, the upper-middle-income, those who have worked hard, who have done, perhaps, better than their parents' expectations and aspirations, they will feel betrayed. If we take the Workers' Party's approach, we will, as a consequence, have to increasingly shift and raise the tax burden onto the middle-class. That, I believe, is the surest way to unravel and destroy our social compact and trust in our society and Singapore will not hold together. To conclude, Mdm Deputy Speaker, it is not an easy task ahead for all of us. There are difficult things that we must do together. But as long as all of us – workers, unions, businesses, fellow citizens and Government – are prepared to play a part and work closely together with the long-term interest of Singapore and Singaporeans at heart, I believe we will continue to live long and prosper. With that, I support the Budget. [Applause.]”
“We will have to apply higher property taxes to a larger base of properties, not just your landed properties, your Good Class Bungalows, your semi-Ds, your terrace houses, your luxury condos – which will already, by the way, see a significant increase – but it will also go to all condos, perhaps Executive Condominiums (ECs) and, perhaps, even eventually even larger HDB flats. Residents from across the country, the whole island, my residents in Marine Parade, residents in the nearby East Coast, Joo Chiat, Bukit Timah, Thomson, Upper Thomson, Bishan – you name it – Upper Bukit Timah, including even in Sengkang, in Aljunied, too. They will all be hit. These are the people who may have to make up the difference. So, this year, this debate, the impression I took away of what the Workers' Party want is two things. One, they said loud and clear; the other may not be so loud or, perhaps, it is hidden somewhat and, perhaps, they could clarify. Loud and clear: "I like all the nice and good things you are proposing but more will be better." But what they are not saying, and I am baffled and, as a consequence is, "I like it that you are raising taxes on the wealthy and more of such taxes would be better". However, have they considered the burden would inevitably have to be borne and applied to a wider group and variety of Singaporeans and taxpayers? So, the first "more", they shout from the rooftops; the second "more", relatively muted, hoping that, perhaps, people would not notice that inevitably, that could be a consequence of what they are proposing. Deputy Speaker, we fundamentally disagree with what the Workers' Party's proposal will imply for our society.”
“It sounds very simple and attractive but ask yourselves – is it really doable? Mdm Deputy Speaker, there is a fundamental philosophical difference in our approach. Make no mistake. This Government's approach is that the rich should carry a heavier load. We are raising income taxes on the top earners, property taxes on higher value properties and the additional registration fee (ARF) for luxury cars. That was the mantra in my colleague, the Minister for Finance's Budget speech this year. The well-off will pay more and receive less, and the less well-off will receive more and pay less. Let me repeat that. The well-off will pay more and receive less and the less well-off will receive more and pay less. But there is a significant difference between what constitutes a fair load and what constitutes a punitive load. It is not possible to get the entire GST amount – the $3.5 billion – by loading it entirely on all those just at the very top. Amongst the revenue options proposed by the Workers' Party, they have suggested increasing personal income tax and property tax even more. If we were to do that, we will have to raise the tax rates on income and property even more substantially and we have to make more people, including middle-income earners pay more. Why? Because it is not possible to have extremely punitive taxes on just the top 1% or the 5%. So, the consequence is that we will have to raise income taxes for not just those at the very top but it will percolate down to our middle, our upper-middle income, including those who have benefited from our educational system, our years of social mobility, those who have toiled, who have laboured, who have worked very hard all through the years to move up from more modest circumstances.”
“They are exploring various options to transform to adjust to the changes. We know that border controls have made things more challenging. As of end January 2022, there are around 46,000 approved Work Permit holders who have yet to enter Singapore due to border controls. But with our border reopening in a calibrated manner, some of this pressure will be relieved. This should help in the interim. But SMEs and businesses alike need to start to plan ahead on what works best for their business model and their workforce. Training and restructuring take time. So, I hope that our businesses will take a longer view on this. To support businesses in their planning, we have laid out our foreign workforce policy moves for the next few years so that businesses have greater certainty, predictability and time to adjust. Finally, Mdm Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to also address some of the points made by the hon Members from the Workers' Party. They oppose the Budget because of the GST increase. But they agree with the moves we are making to shore up the social compact. They accept greater Government spending. In fact, they would like us to spend even more. I believe their position is – agree with all the good and nice things that we propose and then say, "not enough, ask for more". But what they oppose is how we intend to do the difficult thing and, that is, to raise the revenues to pay for all the good things that they like so much that they want even more. The Workers' Party suggests that we can do away with the GST increase if we raise more taxes through other means. That is a revenue shortfall of $3.5 billion. They say, "put a heavier load on some Singaporeans" so that we do not have to have a GST increase.”
“For a whole myriad of reasons, there are about 20% or 260,000 women aged 25 to 64 who are not in the labour force. There are vacancies across all occupational levels with varied qualifications and needs which could potentially be filled by this group. In order to tap on this segment of our population, businesses will need to consider how the jobs they offer can be more flexible and attractive to locals. As flexible work arrangements can come in various forms and some may be more relevant for certain jobs than others, businesses can adopt the most suitable flexible work arrangements that suit their organisations' as well as their employees' needs, including for those in frontline or shift work. Some businesses are already doing so and we should press ahead as best and as fast as we can. Some SMEs also tell me that they wish to hire at the Work Permit level to manage their manpower needs but are unable to do so because of the rules, such as source country restrictions. These rules are there for a reason. But we can find a way to offer some flexibility. It is something that MOM has been working on. I will address this at the upcoming MOM's Committee of Supply (COS) in a few days' time. And I think it will be good news. Lastly, as we continue to refine our policy levers, we will ensure that there will not be a disproportionate impact on SMEs. For instance, there have been suggestions for the Government to look beyond qualifying salary in our Employment Pass (EP) framework, which may be a blunt tool. We have considered and taken the feedback very seriously. I will elaborate further in MOM's COS debate about how our refinements of the EP framework have taken into account the size of the firm. We know that businesses are trying hard.”
“Each time when we made these adjustments, SMEs have taken advantage of the support schemes that we have available to transform, to pivot and to adapt. The result is that our firms have a more sustainable and robust business model – they continue to thrive and they continue to be able to tap the labour market for their manpower needs. With this round of changes, we will continue to support businesses. I would like to offer and submit some suggestions and share some examples of Government support that businesses may wish to tap on. Businesses can review, of course, their wages. They can look into redesigning jobs to make jobs more productive and attractive for employees. Businesses can tap on schemes, such as the Support for Job Redesign under the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG-JR) for job redesign consultancy support to complement and drive business and workforce transformation. In addition, businesses can expand local hiring and upskill their local workforce. The extended SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package and the Jobs Growth Incentive will continue to provide a significant boost to the hiring of locals. Together with the tripartite partners, we will make sure that SMEs which are prepared to transform their businesses and increase local hiring will receive the support they need. Some business owners told me that it is hard to find manpower even with the support, given that our unemployment is so low and that our labour market is tight. They say they need manpower across all levels, from the Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMET) level to the Rank-and-File (RnF) levels. Yes, our unemployment rate is low. This is something that we are happy and very glad for. But there are still untapped sources. One such group is women outside the workforce.”
“We will only apply the new qualifying salary 18 months later, from September 2023. The renewals will also not all happen at the same time in September 2023. It will take another two to three years, so, up to 2026, before the last S Pass employee on the old qualifying salaries comes up for renewal. So, in reality, businesses will have a minimum of 18 months' notice. But it could take up to four and a half years before all existing S Pass holders have to be renewed under the new rules. The same goes for the levies. The Tier 1 levy will be gradually raised to $650 by September 2025, in not just one step but three steps. And that is around three and a half years before the changes take effect fully. I know these adjustments, they take effort, and change is never easy. But at the same time, it is only through continuous innovation and improvement that our businesses can and will grow from strength to strength. Rest assured that we will walk this journey with our businesses. I am particularly mindful of the many SMEs in our economy. SMEs account for more than 70% of employment. This is a very significant proportion of employment, and they are a very important contributor to our economy. I personally know and I have also met with many SME business owners and have heard their concerns. Some are worried that they may be hit more than the multinational companies (MNCs) because they have more financial constraints. They find it more difficult to compete for workers and they are concerned that higher costs for foreign and local manpower will just mean higher business costs. How can our SMEs make the necessary adjustments and emerge stronger? We have been regularly and progressively making updates to our framework.”
“Singapore has always been a multicultural society and we intend to keep it so. Our foreign workforce policies will have to balance the needs of businesses and workers, and this has been MOM's core guiding principle. The announced changes to the qualifying salaries for Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass are part of this series of adjustments to maintain a balance. The wages of our local workers have risen over the years. This reflects the growth of our economy and the deepening of skills in our local workforce. This also means that the quality of the EP and S Pass holders that we bring into Singapore must go up. That is why our EP and S Pass qualifying salaries are adjusted regularly to keep pace with local wages. If we do not do so, firms may choose to hire foreigners simply because they are cheaper than locals. There will not be a level playing field. Our efforts to upskill our workforce and sharpen our business competitiveness will, therefore, be diluted. We know that businesses would want more lead time to adjust before these changes take effect and this is exactly we have done. We announced the moves early but incorporated a long runway between the announcement and implementation dates of all of these moves. We are being transparent so that businesses have ample time to adjust and certainty to plan ahead. Let me use the S Pass changes to explain in greater detail. We have given businesses six months' notice for the first move to take effect. This first move will increase the qualifying salary to $3,000 for new S Pass applications. In other words, come September this year, 2022, all existing S Pass holders are still not affected – the existing ones that are here, they are still not affected. Only the new applications are affected.”
“The Minister for Finance has laid out a multi-year road map to increase the qualifying salary for Employment Passes; increase the qualifying salary and levies for S Passes; reduce the Dependency Ratio Ceiling; dismantle the Man-Year Entitlement (MYE) system and adjust levies for the Construction and Process sectors. I will speak more when MOM’s budget is debated in a few days' time. Today, let me touch on and elaborate on our thinking behind these moves, and how we will walk with businesses through these changes. Businesses, especially our SMEs, have expressed concern about rising costs. I want to assure SMEs that we understand these concerns and we have taken great care when designing the timing of our moves. We are well aware that if businesses do not succeed, there will not be good jobs for Singaporeans. Besides SMEs, foreign companies are also quietly observing our moves. Even foreign publications have been speculating that Singapore is now less welcoming to talent. Members of the House, we must not allow such perceptions or such misperceptions to take root, because this will be very damaging for us. Hence, I want to be very clear that the changes we announce are to ensure that Singapore remains open to foreigners who can complement our workforce, so that our businesses can assemble the best team of locals and foreigners to compete on the global stage. Indeed, this strategy was affirmed by the House last year. We recognise that having foreigners working alongside us and living amongst us can cause discomfort, even some tension, amongst Singaporeans. My assurance is that we will be vigilant in managing the social frictions that may arise from time to time. We will also guard against anti-foreigner and xenophobic sentiments.”
“And also, the new Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) requirements that would uplift many employees beyond the $500 threshold. Should any of these 20,000 workers subsequently work more and earn more than $500 per month, they will automatically re-qualify for Workfare. Second, the $500 per month is a reasonable and achievable wage for most regular workers under our Progressive Wage Model approach. With the new LQS requirement, firms that hire foreign workers must pay all of their locals working part-time at least $9 per hour. At this wage, a part-time worker only needs to work about two working days a week to meet the $500 minimum income criterion. Third, we also recognise that there may be some workers who want to work more, but are unable to earn $500 per month, due to their personal circumstances. This includes persons with disabilities and ComCare recipients. We will provide them concessionary Workfare payouts so that they will not be excluded from Workfare. Hence, if Ms Jessica Tan's resident requires additional financial assistance, she can apply for ComCare and if she qualifies she will receive concessionary Workfare as well. In short, for workers who are earning less than $500, the best way to help them is to help them find a job of the appropriate quality and quantity of working hours to earn at least $500. Then, Workfare can come in to provide an additional boost to help such workers. We have a whole suite of employment facilitation programmes and initiatives, ready to assist. Moving onto my second point that I would like to raise and that is on the foreign workforce policies.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I speak in support of the Budget. The Minister for Finance has put out a comprehensive suite of measures in his Budget Statement. Today, I would like to speak mainly on three issues. The first is on Workfare Income Supplement, the second, to assure our business community, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), of the direction and the pace of our foreign workforce policy. Finally, I would also like to address the points brought up by the Workers' Party Members on the distribution of tax burden. First, on Workfare. Earlier in this debate, the Leader of the Opposition Mr Pritam Singh, Mr Gerald Giam and Ms Jessica Tan, raised concerns about the $500 minimum income criterion for Workfare. I would like to correct the misconception that this is a cutback for lower-wage workers. First, we estimate that around 20,000 Workfare recipients will be affected by the criterion, all of whom are casual or part-time workers. The Leader of the Opposition has estimated that the number of affected recipients is 46,600 by referencing the number of employed residents aged 15 and above earning below $500 in 2021. This is inaccurate. [Deputy Speaker (Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo) in the Chair] Not all of these 46,600 qualify for Workfare due to criteria such as age, spousal assessable income and the annual value of their place of residence. So, in other words, nothing to do with the salary that they earn. Some would be students earning extra pocket money while they study or some of them are actually from higher income households. They are not the intended targets of Workfare. Furthermore, 46,600 is based on 2021 data and does not take into account the expected wage growth from the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) expansion.”
“MOM has put in place a Dormitory Recovery Programme that mirrors the COVID-19 recovery in the community. Fully vaccinated COVID-19 positive workers who are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms recover in dedicated recovery facilities. Migrant workers who are at a higher risk of severe disease are conveyed to appropriate healthcare facilities such as the hospitals for medical care. We had set up recovery facilities and specifically re-purposed them from dedicated blocks in certain dormitories and segregated from workers who are not infected. COVID-19 positive workers in these recovery facilities monitor their vitals thrice daily and have access to medical services at regional medical centres or 24/7 telemedicine consultations. Mobile clinical teams may also be deployed to further augment medical care, when required. We have stood up sufficient recovery beds to accommodate COVID-19 positive migrant workers. We are monitoring the situation closely and are able to add to the capacity of recovery facilities as needed.”
“Mr Speaker, the answer to both the questions is no. I have covered in an earlier Parliamentary Question reply with regard to the types of employees who would require CPF contributions. However, if these companies should change the context of the contracts and the agreements that would attract levies and CPF contributions out of Singapore, we will review this. But, at this point in time, to both his questions, the answer is no.”
“MOM does not track the number of foreign remote employees hired by Singapore-based companies. COVID-19 has led to remote working becoming more commonplace. This may prompt many companies to consider offshoring activities to lower cost locations, particularly for lower value-added work. This is not a new phenomenon. We have seen in the past, activities such as garment manufacturing and call centre operations being offshored to lower cost locations. At the same time, our economy transformed and shifted towards higher value-added activities such as Advanced Manufacturing and Fintech. This transformation created high value-added jobs in Singapore. As an open economy that taps into the world market, we must continue to ensure that Singapore remains the preferred location for trade and investment, and we need to continue to move up the value chain. The anchoring of global companies will help to preserve and also spur the creation of good jobs. Together with our tripartite partners, we will continue to help our local workforce to reskill and upskill for future jobs and skills. However, our success cannot be taken for granted. It is critical that Singapore remains open to global trade and be welcoming to foreign manpower that complements our local workforce. This is why MOM regularly updates our foreign workforce policies to ensure a high-quality and diverse foreign workforce together with a strong Singaporean Core. If we do not strike the right balance, firms will not only offshore the lower value-added work but may also have to bring the higher value-added work elsewhere where they can form the best team. This will mean fewer opportunities for future generations of Singaporeans and is certainly something that we would want to avoid.”
“Under COVID-19 Workplace Regulations, businesses are currently still required to implement work-from-home for at least 50% of their workforce who can work-from-home. For those workers that are unable to work-from-home, employers are to ensure that start times are staggered and allow flexible working hours. MOM tracks the proportion of firms that offer flexible working arrangements, including remote work. In 2020, close to eight in 10 firms provided flexible working arrangements on a sustained basis and close to one in two offered remote work. This information is published on the MOM website. Data for 2021 will be published in due course. MOM will continue to work with tripartite partners to raise employees’ access to flexible work arrangements, which includes but is not limited to remote working arrangements. As not all working arrangements are suitable for remote work, our approach is to be inclusive, to help more workers access appropriate workplace flexibilities, from flexi-load, to flexi-time and to flexi-place.”
“Based on a 2019 MOM survey, about 9% of establishments employing about 22% of the workforce implemented at least one portable medical benefit arrangement1 for their local employees. This practice was more prevalent among establishments with a larger workforce. As explained at the August 2021 and January 2022 Parliament Sittings, portable medical benefits are the best way for employers to manage healthcare-related costs as our population ages and especially with the advent of MediShield Life which provides universal coverage. The Public Service has taken the lead since 1994 to implement a portable medical benefits package. Employers may be hesitant to shift away from established medical benefit schemes in the mistaken belief that their existing schemes will continue to be sustainable in the future. MOM is therefore partnering the Singapore National Employers Federation to engage and explain the benefits of PMBS to employers.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member, Mr Yip, for his question. All employers hiring Singaporean employees based in Singapore, have a legal obligation to pay CPF contributions accurately and promptly for their employees. And these include those on hybrid working arrangements. CPF Board has multiple channels to identify employers who do not pay their CPF contributions correctly and promptly. We have a detection system. Our detection system identifies employers who are late in their contributions. There is a reporting system. Reports can be lodged with the CPF Board. Employees and whistle-blowers can lodge reports to CPF Board about late payment, non-payment or under-payment of CPF contributions. Moving into the third initiative, the CPF Board also proactively audits employers to check the accuracy of CPF contributions paid as well as wages declared. Let me reiterate and reassure the Member: the CPF Board takes a very serious view on employers who fail to pay CPF contributions correctly and promptly. If employers fail to comply with their CPF obligations, the Board will not hesitate to take enforcement actions and impose penalties as appropriate.”
“CPF contributions have risen over the past few years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic when there was a rise in hybrid working arrangements. The computation of CPF obligations does not differ from traditional salaried employees and remote hybrid employees. All employers are required to make mandatory CPF contributions, both the employer and the employee portion, based on the wages a Singaporean or a Singapore Permanent Resident earns while working in Singapore. This includes overseas employers who have local employees working for them remotely in Singapore. We advise local employees of such firms to check that their employment contracts cover the rights and obligations for both themselves and their employers, including provisions of the contribution of CPF by their employers. Further information can be found in the guide on working for overseas-based employers which is published on MOM's website. In addition, like other local employees, employees working remotely in Singapore for overseas employers can still make voluntary CPF contributions up to $37,740 per year, less any mandatory contributions received, to help them enjoy CPF interest rates of up to 6% per annum and accumulate more for their retirement and their healthcare needs.”
“In addition, the IHRP's COVID-19 Taskforce curated several resources to help employers and the HR community navigate the changes and challenges posed by the pandemic. In particular, the People Strategy HR toolkit offers a series of guides on talent attraction, development and retention. Companies and HR professionals are strongly encouraged to take reference from the recommended approaches and best practices to refresh their talent management strategies and reduce staff turnover.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, the Ministry is aware of the trend of rising resignation rates in some other countries and we have been monitoring the local situation. The resignation rate in Singapore has remained consistently low throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It is down from 1.8% in the third quarter of 2019 to 1.6% in the third quarter of 2021. This figure is also below the pre-COVID-19 quarterly average of 1.8% in 2018 and 2019. This is yet another example of where the Singapore labour market has responded to COVID-19 differently from other economies. We have similarly seen that the employment rates for women and senior workers have not dropped but have held steady or continued to rise. Analysts, observers and commentators interested in labour market issues may want to consider that there are factors that do not allow for a like-for-like comparison with the situation in many other countries. Nevertheless, as the economy recovers, we expect the resignation rate to go back up as more workers seek out better opportunities. This is to be expected in well-functioning labour markets. We have already observed higher resignation rates in growth sectors such as Financial Services, Professional Services, Information and Communications, and Health and Social Services, where recruitment rates have also increased in tandem. To help both employers and employees adapt to remote working arrangements, we are working with tripartite partners and the Human Resource (HR) community to promote resources and tools, such as the Institute for Human Resource Professionals' or IHRP's Playbook on Hybrid Workplaces, which guides companies on implementing effective hybrid work arrangements and enhancing employee engagement.”
“And as a result of that, have a whole series of programmes for this group of individuals, whether it is place-and-train or attach-and-train, so that we can take some of the economic burden off the companies, by Government subsidising or funding a large part of that training for us to collectively achieve the end goal of getting them gainfully employed. So, we can go into a lot more granular detail, but I think that perhaps suffice to say if it answers directionally the Member's question and line of reasoning, I am happy to take it further in subsequent sessions to try and see how we can come to an even more focused and even more nuanced solution for this group of individuals.”
“I thank Assoc Prof Jamus Lim for his question. I think there are two aspects of it that we have been gleaning from the statistics and also the data that we have obtained. Generally, the older age group, particularly from those that are in their 50s and 60s, have a relatively higher difficulty in obtaining jobs. In terms of the educational level, typically, these are those who have not gotten Diplomas, I mean they have Secondary education. I want to add that the long-term unemployment rate is not high to begin with – we are at about 0.9%. In a very good year, we are at about 0.7% or 0.8%. That 0.9% equates to about 22,000 residents. This is the group we are looking at. We have tried to see what are some of the skillsets that we could nudge them to upgrade to. Many of them, we would need them to work with us in terms pivoting, reskilling in the ICT sector and also in terms of improving the value-added and the productivity of the roles that they are performing in. One of the challenges is also the fact that across the industry, it is the inward-facing ones, I think the same ones that we have been talking about the last couple of months. The inward-facing ones – retail, some of those in food services and hospitality – they continue to still be relatively slower compared to the outward-facing sectors in the recovery. So, these are the ones that we are trying our level best with, by identifying them, working closely with the industry to see how we can actually help them transform, we can actually help them to also repackage some of the services that they are able to offer.”
“As a result, we then work with the economic agencies to see whether we could help them tap on the Support for Job Redesign under Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG-JR) or some of the other types of bridging loans for them to be able to leverage on these resources to help train and to help them pivot to new, hopefully, greener pastures. I hope that answers the Member's question. There are quite a number of these programmes available.”
“I thank Mr Leon Perera for his question. Indeed, for the at-risk industries, we work very closely with the different economic agencies including the other Ministry that I am also overseeing with Minister Gan Kim Yong, working with EDB and ESG to identify which sectors or types of industries are at risk of disruption. We actually work with them to develop JTMs. I think there are about 15 Job Transformation Maps (JTMs) planned. What we do is that we believe in not just making sure of identifying the at-risk employees, but we also want to identify the at-risk businesses, so that there is a proper matching. On top of that, we also – I think I have alluded some time ago – that we have a job task force with a clear target in terms of trying to go down to the granular details, to see where some of these potential mismatches could end up with. As a result of that, we have been able to, in some of these at-risk areas, identified the number of jobs available. I think we are now on a fairly good trajectory of achieving those targets. Moving forward, in terms of the CCPs, the CCPs are limited by the ability of the companies or the businesses that we are working with, for them to dedicate and allocate resources. WSG has a sustained effort to increase and maximise the number of CCP places working in collaboration with these companies and to develop more programmes for the employees, particularly those making mid-career switches, looking to upskill, to reskill or to pivot. The key thing is obviously bringing these companies on board, because some companies, particularly the smaller ones, find that they may not necessarily have the bandwidth nor the resources to join us in developing some of these CCPs.”
“Workforce Singapore, or WSG, has also rolled out Job Redesign Reskilling Programmes to support employers to upskill their employees to take on enhanced job roles. Employers who need support on their transformation journeys can partner with NTUC to establish a Company Training Committee, or CTC. NTUC has done so with over 800 companies. MOM will continue to support NTUC’s efforts. So, the first part alludes to supporting the employers, the businesses. Now, the employee side. To directly support local jobseekers, the National Jobs Council has placed more than 174,000 jobseekers into jobs and skills opportunities as of end-December 2021. This is under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills, or SGUJS, Package. The Jobs Growth Incentive, or JGI, was also introduced to encourage employers to expand local hiring amidst economic uncertainty. Jobseekers also have access to WSG’s career matching services and programmes. Several of our programmes provide enhanced support for the long-term unemployed. In particular, the Career Conversion Programmes, or CCPs, help jobseekers to reskill for in-demand growth jobs. Employers who hire long-term unemployed candidates will receive higher support of up to 90% of salary costs. We have also appointed Adecco as our first SGUnited Jobs and Skills Placement Partner to provide additional job matching avenues for more vulnerable jobseekers, including the long-term unemployed.”
“MOM adopts the same approach taken by other national statistical agencies and tracks long-term unemployment rates disaggregated by age, gender and education qualifications. These figures are released regularly through our labour market reports. The industries with the highest long-term unemployment rates in June 2021 were Transportation and Storage, Administrative and Support Services, Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, Construction, Accommodation and Food Services, and Real Estate Services. These industries have been relatively more impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the long-term unemployment rates across industries also fluctuate from year to year, so it does not make sense to focus on the top industries. Instead, we have to help workers across the economy to continue to stay relevant and also for jobseekers wishing to switch careers, to help them switch into new jobs. Our measures include efforts to pre-emptively tackle the issue of skills obsolescence and reduce the chances of workers falling into long-term unemployment. This is even more apt in this current world where there is so much disruption and transformation going on. We publish Jobs Transformation Maps or JTMs, which are detailed sectoral manpower studies mapping out the impact of technology and digitalisation on individual jobs over the medium term, to identify opportunities for employers to transform their jobs as well as to upskill their workers to be ready for these transformed jobs. Employers can tap on various Government programmes to do so. Under the Support for Job Redesign under Productivity Solutions Grant, there is funding support for employers undergoing business transformation to redesign jobs to be more productive and attractive to workers.”
“CPF members enjoy risk-free interest of up to 6% per annum on their CPF balances. Those who are prepared to take some risk to earn potentially higher returns may do so through the CPF Investment Scheme or CPFIS. Members can participate in CPFIS using their Ordinary Account (CPFIS-OA) and Special Account monies. Under the CPFIS-OA, CPF members have access to a range of investment products of varying risk profiles. These include bonds, fixed deposits, insurance policies, unit trusts, shares, gold products and exchange-traded funds or ETFs. Based on the latest CPFIS-OA Profit and Loss Statement published on the CPF website, about 75% of 645,000 CPFIS-OA members made profits or broke even in the reporting period of FY2020. The remaining 162,000 members (25%) made cumulative total losses1.”
“The Home Protection Scheme (HPS) is a mortgage reducing insurance that protects CPF members and their families from losing their HDB flats in the event of the member’s death, terminal illness or total permanent disability. HPS is required for members who use CPF savings to pay for their HDB housing loans, and optional for members who use cash. Today, nearly all members who use CPF savings or cash to pay for their HDB housing loans and apply for HPS are covered under the scheme. This includes some with pre-existing medical conditions without premium loading. The majority of remaining members have equivalent private mortgage insurance and, hence, are not required to be covered under HPS. About 1.2% of applicants are not covered under HPS due to serious pre-existing medical conditions in the last five years. In line with industry practice, HPS is not extended to applicants with serious pre-existing medical conditions to ensure the affordability of premiums for members and the viability of the scheme. For flat owners who face difficulties with their mortgage repayments, HDB has various assistance measures available to help them.”
“Employer-arranged voluntary health screenings are a form of staff benefit offered to employees to help them take care of their health on a preventive basis. It is not mandatory for the employee to undergo the screening. The HR community has not experienced complications or difficulties in administering such programmes at the firm-level, and there has not been a need to make recommendations on this issue. The Government also does not require health screening providers to counsel individuals undergoing health screening on the potential implications for future health insurance eligibility. This applies whether the health screening is arranged by employers or on an individual’s own initiative. As such benefits are voluntarily offered by employers and taken up voluntarily by the employees, it is better not to be too prescriptive.”
“The Retention Scheme has helped to reduce the number of construction workers leaving Singapore after their Work Permits have been cancelled. Since its implementation in September 2021, about 430 workers have been enrolled in the scheme. Sixty percent of them have already been successfully matched to new employers. The rest are in the process of being matched. MOM has also been facilitating the entry of more construction workers into Singapore, within the parameters set by the Multi-Ministry Taskforce that take into consideration the COVID-19 situation domestically and internationally. There are also ongoing industry initiatives to bring in Construction, Marine and Process (CMP) workers safely with tightened end-to-end safe management processes. To date, 21,000 migrant workers have entered Singapore through these industry initiatives. In January, I updated that between November and December 2021, 18,000 CMP workers entered Singapore on average each month. Subject to the public health situation, we will continue efforts to bring in workers safely to support the industry.”
“About 98% of migrant workers living in dormitories are fully vaccinated. The vast majority of migrant workers living in dormitories that were infected with COVID-19 in 2021 were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. In 2021, 11 fully vaccinated migrant workers required oxygen or were admitted to intensive care. This represents 0.05% of vaccinated migrant workers who tested positive on a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Another seven unvaccinated or partially vaccinated migrant workers needed oxygen supplementation or were admitted to intensive care, representing 0.32% of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated migrant workers who tested PCR-positive. This proportion is more than six times that of vaccinated migrant workers. There were no COVID-19-related deaths amongst migrant workers living in dormitories in 2021.”
“Resident workforce growth has been slowing due to lower birth rates and an ageing population. From 2011 to 2015, the resident workforce grew by 55,200 per annum on average. From 2016 to 2020, resident workforce growth averaged 20,600 per annum. In the March 2017 Parliamentary Sitting, we said that we expect resident workforce growth to head for stagnation over the subsequent 10 years. However, we now expect our resident workforce to continue growing beyond 2027. This is, in part, due to rising resident employment rates in the 65 and over age group as well as for women, reflecting our efforts to raise the employability of senior workers and women. The point at which our resident workforce will stagnate will depend on a host of factors, including our continued efforts mentioned above. To better support senior workers who are able and wish to continue working for longer, we have been implementing the recommendations made by the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers in 2019. These include raising the retirement and re-employment ages, increasing the CPF contribution rates of senior workers, and working with tripartite partners to facilitate companies in conducting structured career planning and to offer more flexible employment options. We will continue to work with tripartite partners to promote and support flexible work arrangements to support workers in managing both their work and personal commitments. This will help employers to better attract and retain workers. Notwithstanding these efforts, we will have to continue to raise productivity as our resident workforce growth slows. This is why we have been focusing on technology and innovation-driven growth in our economic transformation.”
“The proportion of Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) in our resident workforce has remained stable at between 8% and 10% over the past five years. Over the years, the Government has put in place several measures to support SEPs. They are required to make CPF contributions to their MediSave account and we have piloted the Contribute-As-You-Earn (CAYE) scheme to make it more convenient for them to do so. Eligible lower-income SEPs will receive up to $2,667 of Workfare payouts per year. The Government has also worked with insurers to introduce prolonged medical leave insurance, which many SEP drivers and riders are now covered by. Like other Singaporeans, they are also covered by national healthcare schemes. The Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) provides mediation services to SEPs to address disputes with their service buyers and SEPs can have their rights enforced at the Small Claims Tribunal. Additionally, those who wish to transit to regular employment can tap on our skills training and employment facilitation services, including career advisory counselling offered by Workforce Singapore (WSG) and Employment and Employability Institute (e2i). To strengthen protections for platform workers and ensure a more balanced relationship between platform companies and their workers, MOM convened an Advisory Committee last year. Since then, the Committee has received extensive feedback from various stakeholders, including over 1,300 responses to the public consultation paper published in November 2021. The Committee is continuing to engage stakeholders further on these matters.”
“Employers may also place them on no-pay leave based on mutually agreeable terms. Termination of employment should be the last resort. We strongly encourage medically eligible but unvaccinated employees to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
“The Workforce Vaccination Measures are promulgated as subsidiary legislation under the Workplace Safety and Health Act. This was presented to Parliament on 12 January 2022. It is an established practice in our system of governance that legislation commonly delegates to Ministers the power to make subsidiary legislation to address details that elaborate on the empowering Act. Many of our legislation, under the purview of all Ministries, provide for that. Since the Workforce Vaccination Measures pertain to the health and safety of workers, it is within the power of the Minister for Manpower to set out these requirements as subsidiary legislation under the Workplace Safety and Health Act. Other requirements relating to COVID-19 management, such as group sizes and safe distancing, were promulgated as subsidiary legislation by the Minister for Health, under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act. The Workforce Vaccination Measures facilitate the safe operation of businesses and minimise the risk to employees' health, by ensuring that employees who report to the workplace are fully vaccinated. In alignment with vaccination-differentiated measures in other settings, those who are medically ineligible for vaccination are not affected. They can continue to report to the workplace. Employees who are medically eligible but unvaccinated are not granted exemptions, to protect them from being exposed to COVID-19 infection at the workplace. As outlined in the tripartite advisory on workforce vaccination measures, employers may redeploy these unvaccinated employees to suitable jobs that can be done from home, with the recognition that prolonged absence from the workplace may affect their individual performance and contributions, relative to other employees in the workplace.”
“We will continue to work with tripartite partners to support companies to provide FWAs in an effective and sustainable manner.”
“We have not commissioned any study of the sort described by the Member, nor do we have plans to do so. Due to COVID-19, employers have adapted work practices and norms. In 2020, three in four employees worked in firms that provided some form of remote working. Our surveys also show that the majority of employers are keen to continue work-from-home arrangements for at least a quarter of the time, even after the pandemic ends. Moving forward, we expect work-from-home arrangements to become more mainstream. Employers see the value of work-from-home and other flexible work arrangements in talent retention and attraction, while employees enjoy the flexibility and experience better work-life balance. However, employers have also shared their concerns over the impact on staff engagement and effective collaboration, while employees are concerned over blurred work-life boundaries and the risk of burn-out. We will continue to work with tripartite partners to sustain the provision and use of flexible work arrangements, which include but are not limited to work-from-home. We will do so by addressing the challenges that employers have faced in implementing them. We will continue to promote implementation resources and tools, such as the Institute for Human Resource Professionals' Playbook on Hybrid Workplaces and the Tripartite Advisory on Mental Well-being at Workplaces. These will help guide companies implement effective hybrid work arrangements and measures to support employees' well-being. Even as we drive the adoption of flexible work arrangements, tripartite partners have stressed that we should not inadvertently erode trust at the workplace or create a litigious workplace culture by introducing overly rigid rules or rushing into legislation.”
“I thank Mr Liang Eng Hwa for his two fairly insightful questions. The first point in terms of the S-LNG, the emergency supply, the stock pile, whether it has become a constraint, the answer is no. As I have shared many times, for natural gas, we are sufficiently provided for and we will ensure that we continue to monitor very closely and, if necessary, invest in infrastructure to continue to make sure that our energy resilience and our sufficiency in terms of supplies will not be compromised. To the Member's question why larger companies cannot enter into longer-term contracts rather than on a month-to-month basis, it is, I think, because of the volatility in terms of the prices as well as the uncertainty that is evolving today, large companies which want to enter into contracts are now entering into contracts at new, very high-priced levels. If they were to lock in long-term contracts of a year or two years today, and if the stability comes back to some level of normality, they may find that they are at a disadvantage. Then, would they want to unwind the contract that they had gotten themselves into? Likewise, from the gencos' perspective, they are also not sure whether they can continue to buy or procure gas at current spot prices. In the event that they procure and they sign up, and the spot prices go up even further, they would take a bigger loss and a bigger impact. So, it is that kind of bottlenecks that we have today. And so, that is why EMA has stepped in to see how we can manage for the current volatility, on a short-term basis, by offering these one-month temporary retail electricity contracts. I hope that clarifies.”
“I thank Ms He Ting Ru for her question. I do not have the answer at this particular point in time. I understand the concerns that the Member has. If I may humbly request that she file a Parliamentary Question. We, certainly, will look into it and, probably, give her a more robust and detailed answer.”
“The reason why we created TRECS was because we took into consideration the fact that, to expect Singapore Power, or SP, to suddenly open it up to everyone for them to buy, I think SP may have difficulty in supplying all that incremental needs in the short run. So, we need to also understand how the market works. Electricity which is offered through the regulated tariff is purchased by SP through existing long-term vesting contracts with the gencos. SP has contracted a limited quantity of such long-term electricity contracts and we have to reserve them for households, for small business consumers, who, traditionally, do not have the bargaining power to negotiate for better retail prices. If we allow for large consumers to switch to the regulated tariffs, then this means that the SP Group will now have to contract for additional supply with gencos at higher prices and/or buy additional electricity supply from the SWEM at the prevailing Uniform Singapore Electric Price, or USEP. This will then cause the regulated tariffs to rise. So, all households and small consumers, who are, today, on the regulated tariff would then have to bear the costs of price stability for the large consumers. This may not necessarily be fair to household consumers and small business owners. Hence, as a result of that, we wanted to make sure that we can segregate it and protect the existing consumers, of which many of them are your residents as well, by making sure that we move and negotiate for a new scheme, TRECS, to help those that are in the four MWh to 20 MWh range. I hope this answers the Member's question.”
“I do not have the data for how many businesses have not been able to subscribe to TRECS in January but, as a follow-up, what I can do is to try and get the statistics and then answer that either in another Parliamentary Question that the Member can file later, or I will see how to get that answer across. We are also contemporaneously working with gencos to see if they can offer additional temporary discounts at their end. I just want to also manage expectations. These offsets will not be able to help account for the price increase completely. Because, as I have said before in the past, this has gone up by threefold since the start of 2021. But, certainly, it will go some way to help companies to adapt to the sudden surge in prices. I hope that clarifies.”
“I thank Mr Gerald Giam for his questions. Can I answer the second question, and then I will go back to the first one? For TRECS, in January, it was oversubscribed. As I have shared earlier on in my main reply to a Parliamentary Question, for February, there still remains about 200 megawatts, and I was encouraging many of these SMEs to consider going into this particular retail plan. As far as the extension of TRECS for another six months is concerned, we have now extended for March, April and May. That is three months. Our estimates also tie in, generally, with the consultants, and these are global market consultants, who look at the trend of energy prices. Of course, we hope that the situation in Eastern Europe, namely, between Russia and Ukraine, does not get worse. But once winter is over, we are cautiously optimistic that natural gas prices will ease somewhat. So, we may not need to extend TRECS beyond six months. At this particular point in time, we are monitoring the situation very, very closely. In fact, we do not monitor on a month-to-month basis, but we monitor it on a weekly basis, and, sometimes, even on a daily basis. I hope that answers the Member's question. Today, TRECS will be extended for March, April and through to May. But other than TRECS as a scheme, we are also now working to see whether there are any other assistance measures that we can roll-out to help. So, I hope that answers the Member's second point, For his first question, in terms of the assistance, we have worked with electricity retailers and gencos to lower the cost of buying electricity through eligible contracts to support those businesses that have been affected.”
“I thank Ms Jessica Tan for her very poignant reminder to all of us. There are quite a number of initiatives that we have moved on to. We have encouraged many businesses to consider using energy-efficient power systems, including energy-efficient light bulbs and even air conditioning. We have worked very closely with MSE where we would encourage companies to use devices or appliances with the triple-tick marks to improve energy efficiency and conserve energy. We have also started giving grants to help companies to pivot into using more solar photo-voltaic panels. On top of that, over at EMA, given the fact that we do not have a very constant and consistent supply of solar energy, we are also, in parallel, developing a series of energy storage systems in the form of ESS, so that, during the time when there is peak solar power, we can store up that energy to allow it for use later on. On top of that, in terms of the building of efficiency, we have encouraged industries to go green, where they can use natural ventilation, to even working with design consultancy firms in the entire built environment to see how we can actually reduce the need for lowering the temperature in terms of using the air conditioning. There are multiple initiatives and they are probably too numerous for me to go through at length. These are just some very clear examples of what we have started to work with the industry on.”