Committee of Supply – Head S (Ministry of Manpower)

Debate resumed.

6.36 pm

The Minister for Manpower (Dr Tan See Leng): Mr Chairman, I thank the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) Members of Parliament and Members who have spoken for our workers as well as our employers. It has been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, we managed to recover fairly quickly.

During COVID-19, resident unemployment peaked at 4.8%. MOM's priority then was to protect livelihoods. Through the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, we assisted more than 200,000 jobseekers. Now, resident unemployment is at 2.8%, amongst the lowest compared to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Against the backdrop of wars and supply chain disruptions, most countries, including Singapore, battled global inflation in recent years. For many Singaporeans, the pressures of rising cost of living were a real concern. We managed to cushion this through targeted support for households and income growth that kept pace with, and even exceeded inflation.

Over the last five years, the median real monthly income of residents grew by 3.6%. For lower-wage workers, this was even higher at 5.9%. This means while prices have risen, our wages have increased more. We have done better than other advanced economies, such as the United Kingdom (UK), US and Japan, where real wages have stagnated or declined.

Beyond recovering, we helped workers and businesses to emerge stronger.

First, we supported Singaporeans across career stages.

For working professionals in their 20s to 40s, we helped advance their careers. Our Career Conversion Programmes helped 37,000 workers reskill into growth jobs over the last five years. For mature workers in their 50s onwards, we helped them stay meaningfully employed. The Part-Time Re-employment Grant helped more than 6,500 employers offer work opportunities to 50,000 mature workers.

Second, we strengthened protection for vulnerable groups and helped Singaporeans save up for retirement.

For those who lost their jobs involuntarily, we introduced the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme to provide temporary financial support while they look for a job.

For lower-wage workers, we uplifted their wages. We expanded the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), we raised the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS), we enhanced the Workfare Income Supplement to boost their incomes and CPF savings. Up to nine in 10 full-time, lower-wage workers are now covered by PWM, LQS and the Progressive Wage (PW) Mark.

For platform workers, we strengthened their housing and retirement adequacy, their work injury compensation and representation. For persons with disabilities, we boosted their employment from 28% to 34% over the past five years.

We strengthened the retirement adequacy of all Singaporeans. We introduced the $9 billion Majulah Package in 2024 and we expect to spend over $800 million on the enhanced Silver Support Scheme this year for 290,000 seniors. About 740,000 Singaporeans will be eligible for the enhanced Matched Retirement Savings Scheme (MRSS). We want to assure all Singaporeans that they can meet their basic retirement needs so long as they work and contribute consistently to CPF. We will also uplift those who are unable to, or lack the runway to work and save through CPF.

Third, COVID-19 was a wake-up call for businesses to drive productivity and strengthen resilience. We refreshed, therefore, our work pass framework to enable this. We launched the Overseas Networks and Expertise Pass (ONE Pass) for global talent; and the COMPASS for Employment Pass (EP) holders. We remained disciplined in our reliance on Work Permit holders to spur industry transformation.

We supported businesses' transformation. Mr Sharael Taha asked how successful this has been.

Since 2019, we have launched 17 Jobs Transformation Maps. Around 10,000 companies received support to train and to hire workers, and to redesign jobs through schemes, like the Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs). We also launched the HR Industry Transformation Plan in 2023 to drive our workforce transformation.

Finally, we built fairer, more inclusive and safer workplaces. We launched the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests and we built employer capabilities to better attract and retain talent in the workforce. This initiative could potentially unlock access to a sizeable group, with about 240,000 women and 130,000 seniors of working age, which is outside the labour force today.

We passed the Workplace Fairness Bill to combat workplace discrimination. We improved the well-being and safety of migrant workers. We introduced primary care plans, we raised operating standards in dormitories, we improved service offerings at Recreation Centres and we attained a record low workplace fatality rate of 0.99 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2023.

These achievements were only possible with the strong support of our tripartite partners, the NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

But the work goes on. With significant geopolitical and economic uncertainties ahead, we have projected a more cautious pace of GDP growth in 2025, at about 1% to 3%. In the longer term, two forces will make growth even harder to sustain.

First, our demographic challenge. With our low fertility, our resident workforce is expected to stop growing by the next decade. Our population is also ageing. One in four Singaporeans are projected to be aged 65 and above by 2030.

Second, intensifying global competition. Southeast Asia will benefit from a demographic dividend and we need to keep up as the rest of Southeast Asia grows. Cities, like New York, London and Dubai, they are attracting top companies and talent in fields like biotechnology and AI.

Amidst these challenges, how can we continually grow the economic pie? How do we continue to create meaningful opportunities for Singaporeans?

First, we have to continue to remain open to the world to stay competitive and to support our society's needs. In 2014, there were six working-age residents supporting each elderly resident aged 65 and above. In 2024, last year, this fell to 3.5. Foreign workers blunt this decline. Including them, the old age support ratio in 2024 rises from 3.5 to 5.2.

But there are limits to growing through numbers. The only sustainable way forward is through productivity-driven growth.

We have made good progress on our productivity journey. Supported by the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs), labour productivity grew by around 2% per annum over the last decade. However, even so, Singapore's productivity remains at 40% to 70% of frontier economies.

There is an exciting opportunity, and that is for us to reshape our economy into one that is driven by productivity and innovation. The global order has also changed dramatically in a matter of weeks. Singapore can stand out as a beacon of stability and as a beacon of openness, drawing in global talent, drawing in global companies.

As Deputy Prime Minister Gan shared earlier on today in his Ministry of Trade and Industry COS speech, we will strengthen our connectivity to the world; we will help our local companies build new brands and new businesses; we will foster a pro-enterprise environment for growth in areas like advanced manufacturing, deep tech and the green economy.

6.45 pm

People – their passion, ingenuity, skills – these are at the heart of this journey. MOM will build a workforce that is adaptable, innovative and diverse, helping Singapore thrive in a turbulent world.

We have three priorities this year: (a) enabling businesses to transform; (b) empowering workers to build career health; and (c) fostering inclusive and safe workplaces.

First, we will enable businesses to transform. Businesses understand this need, but they face a high-cost environment. Part of the increase in manpower cost has been necessary to uplift our lower-wage workers, and this is a priority in our country's social compact. We will alleviate businesses' short-term pressures while we drive and continue to drive long-term transformation.

Second, we will empower workers to build their career health through different life stages even as our economy transforms.

And third, we will foster fair, inclusive and safe workplaces.

Let me start with how we are enabling businesses to transform. To stay competitive, companies need to transform their workforce in tandem with business improvements. We will set aside over $400 million for a new Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package. It will address the calls from Mr Yip Hon Weng, Mr Sharael Taha, Mr Edward Chia and Ms Jean See for more holistic and integrated support for enterprise workforce transformation, with three main features.

First, we will introduce a new SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant. This will bring together schemes administered by WSG and SSG, and simplify the application process. Companies can access a holistic suite of workforce development support via one application channel, for activities like job redesign, capability building and training. WSG will work with anchor programme partners to advise companies on suitable and sustainable solutions.

Second, we will enhance support for job redesign. Currently, WSG provides funding support of up to 50%, capped at $30,000, for companies to engage pre-approved consultants on job redesign. Under the Workforce Development Grant, we will increase this to 70%. We will also review and raise the cap of $30,000.

Some larger companies have begun identifying workers who may be impacted by AI and proactively reskilling them for new jobs. But other companies, especially SMEs, may need more support for job redesign to address disruptions like the impact of AI. We will expand the scope of coverage for job redesign expenses beyond consultancy services to include equipping line managers and HR with job redesign and change management skills in identifying workforce solutions and AI tools. We will share more details in due course.

Third, the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit will be redesigned in 2026 to better support workforce transformation. We received feedback that the reimbursement model could better address companies' cash flow issues and be clearer as to which schemes the credits could be used for. With the redesigned scheme, eligible companies will get a fresh $10,000 of credits. Like an online wallet, companies can use the credits to offset out-of-pocket expenses on relevant workforce transformation programmes.

The NTUC's Company Training Committee (CTC) Grant was enhanced in 2024 to support training tied to business transformation. The take-up has been encouraging. As of December 2024, the CTC Grant has supported more than 400 transformation projects, benefiting over 7,000 workers.

Take Ms Rachel Lee, a tax advisor at BDO Tax Advisory. Rachel used to spend many hours on manual tasks, like data collection and document preparation. Using the CTC Grant, BDO Tax Advisory introduced a centralised data platform with a smarter and faster workflow, automated data collection and validation. And this, therefore, allowed Rachel to focus on providing clients personalised support, improving business outcomes.

As announced by the Prime Minister in his Budget speech, we will set aside around $200 million to scale up the grant and to extend it to 2028.

How can educational institutions and employers collaborate to develop future-ready employees? Today, they can co-develop workforce training programmes customised to business needs. We will also expand the CTC Grant to fund employer-led training that provides workers formal certifications. The CTC Grant will provide enhanced support via course fee subsidies and absentee payroll.

We thank Mr Patrick Tay, Mr Yip Hon Weng and Mr Edward Chia for their suggestions to improve HR practices and standards. HR plays an important role in workforce transformation, not just to comply with employment legislation but also to uplift organisations' human capital. We will launch a Tripartite Workgroup on Human Capital Capability Development to raise HR standards and HR professionals' capabilities to contribute strategically to business and workforce outcomes.

Let me now turn to our foreign workforce. Businesses have cited, continually so, manpower constraints as a key challenge.

At the same time, Assoc Prof Jamus Lim shared that there is ground scepticism over the need for foreign talent. That scepticism is natural. When we see a foreigner, we think, "They are taking a job a Iocal could have had". But what is harder to see is that, without the access to foreigners, the company and its jobs may not even be in Singapore to begin with.

The hard truth is that Singapore has a small domestic market and we have no natural resources. As Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew once said, "If we do not attract, we do not welcome and we do not make talent feel comfortable in Singapore, we will not be a global city, and we will not count for much."

So, it is very easy to use simplistic arguments to insinuate that it is a zero-sum game, that if you remove one foreigner, you get one more job for a local. Mr Leong shared that he is for an open economy and open society, and asked for facts to support this, to quell anti-immigration sentiments. Let me share the facts.

I take note that he is trained in econometrics, he is a statistician. But please do not underestimate the power of the entire team of Government economists, scholars, Government statisticians who are monitoring this for many, many years and many, many decades, and have also understood the trends. They probably have a deeper depth of knowledge and understanding of the trends than probably you and I do.

So, over the last decade, the number of EP and S Pass holders grew by 38,000. The last 10 years. Resident PMETs grew by 382,000, 10 times more. One in three of the increase in resident PMETs came from non-PMETs upgrading to higher-skilled PMET roles, with residents in their 30s to 50s forming the majority. Members of the House, our upskilling programmes, our investments in our local non-PMETs to upgrade to PMETs have borne fruit.

In the Financial and Insurance Services, Professional Services and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sectors, EP and S Pass holders increased by 18,000. Resident PMETs increased by 172,000, again a 10-fold increase. As of 2024, there were three to six resident PMETs for every one EP or S Pass holder in these sectors. The same story holds, even if one compares only Singapore Citizens, or even local-born Singapore Citizens, to EP and S Pass holders.

Resident data largely mirrors citizen data, because Singapore Citizens have consistently made up about 84% of the resident workforce.

MOM has periodically released statistics and analyses on the employment outcomes of Singapore Citizens. Employment outcomes for Singapore Citizens have been favourable over the last decade. The labour force participation rate of Singapore Citizens has risen, making it one of the highest globally. This is ahead of cities in Japan, Finland and Germany. The unemployment rate of Singapore Citizens has remained stable and low over the decade and, internationally, Singapore has one of the lowest unemployment rates.

We should never develop a "Singaporean only" mentality, because this would deprive us of talent needed to anchor global businesses that benefit Singaporeans. Foreign-owned firms comprise less than one-quarter of companies in Singapore, but they employ about one-third of resident workers, and about 60% of residents in high-paying jobs. Our own local enterprises have benefited from servicing multinational corporations (MNCs) and gaining global exposure. Global companies and foreigners also pay taxes that help fund Government spending on education, healthcare and housing.

Our work pass framework is carefully managed to provide access to high-quality foreigners who support productive sectors and create good jobs for locals. Miss Rachel Ong and Mr Mohd Fahmi have asked for updates on this.

The ONE Pass has continued to attract global talent who create opportunities in Singapore, and about 3,000 ONE Passes were issued in 2024.

Beyond economic contributions, ONE Pass holders have contributed to the local community, mentoring local leaders and startups, volunteering with social organisations and collaborating with our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs).

Take Ms Savita Iyer, the chief financial officer for The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia. She has worked across the globe and volunteers as a mentor with the Singapore Leaders Network Fellowship Programme, which prepares Singaporeans for regional and global leadership roles. One of her mentees is Ms Sueann Yeo, Head of APAC Private Wealth Client Relation, EQT Group. Ms Yeo feels empowered to have a female mentor who is a leader in her field and to apply her mentor's experience to her own leadership journey.

At the EP level, we have finetuned our framework to ensure that EP holders complement our local workforce. The EP qualifying salary is benchmarked to the top one-third of the local PMET wages to ensure that EP holders are of high calibre.

The minimum qualifying salary was increased from $5,000 to $5,600 on 1 January 2025 and there will be no further changes this year. Assoc Prof Jamus Lim suggested levelling the salaries for local and foreign workers through a CPF escrow. I believe this is unnecessary, because when setting the qualifying salary, we already include CPF contributions in the local wage benchmarks. In salary terms, the playing field is actually quite fair. While the take-home pay of an EP holder may be higher because they do not contribute to CPF, this does not mean locals are paid less, because their CPF contributions go towards housing and retirement needs.

Mr Patrick Tay asked for an update on how our EP framework incentivises businesses to develop a strong local core. We implemented COMPASS about a year and a half ago. About 30% of the current EP stock has passed through COMPASS and early results suggest that we are moving in the right direction. Firms more dependent on foreigners of a single nationality or foreigners in general will have to diversify their workforce or they have to hire more locals to pass COMPASS.

Since COMPASS was introduced, the share of firms with higher dependence on foreigners of a single nationality has decreased by 7%, while the share of firms with higher dependence on foreigners generally has decreased by 15%. These firms also created 4,000 more PMET jobs for locals.

7.00 pm

At the S Pass level, we will continue to raise the quality of our workforce and safeguard employment opportunities for local associate professionals and technicians (APTs). We have benchmarked the minimum cost of hiring for S Pass holders to the top one-third of local APT wages. To ease the transition, we phased out the increase in the S Pass qualifying salary over three steps. We announced it in 2022, and phased it out over three steps, in 2022, 2023 and 2025.

In light of businesses' cost challenges, we have moderated the increase. The S Pass minimum qualifying salary will be raised from $3,150 to $3,300. For the Financial Services sector, it will be raised from $3,650 to $3,800. Per usual, the qualifying salaries will increase with age. These changes will apply to new S Pass applications from 1 September 2025, and renewal applications expiring from 1 September 2026. The S Pass levy rate will also be standardised at $650 for all S Pass holders from 1 September 2025. We will continue to review the S Pass qualifying salary against the benchmark, given prevailing economic conditions.

At the Work Permit level, numbers are at an all-time high, 17% above pre-COVID-19 levels. Sectors more reliant on Work Permit holders, such as Construction, Food Services and Accommodation, have experienced low or negative productivity growth over the last decade. You might have read – over 3,000 F&B outlets closed in 2024. But these closures were outpaced by almost 4,000 new openings, with a 4% increase in Work Permit holders.

As Mr Fahmi urged, businesses need to reduce reliance on Work Permit holders by raising productivity and redesigning jobs for locals. Recognising this, the Alliance for Action (AfA) on Business Competitiveness made helpful recommendations to enable businesses to hire higher-skilled workers – and go for quality over quantity.

Mr Mark Lee asked about the recommendation to allow cross-deployment of foreign workers across sectors. It is a complex issue – we need to balance the potential efficiencies against the risk of circumvention of our work pass controls. Having said that, we are studying this in consultation with industry partners and will update when ready.

On the other recommendations, we will adopt them to enhance our Work Permit framework.

First, we will remove the maximum period of employment restrictions for Work Permit holders. Previously, period of employment was capped at 14 to 26 years – causing firms to let go of experienced workers who could be at prime working age. We will also raise the maximum employment age of Work Permit Holders to align with the local retirement age, currently 63. With these changes, employers can retain experienced workers who are still able to contribute.

Mr Jayakumar has worked at KTC Civil Engineering and Construction for 25 years, joining as an Assistant Foreman before rising the ranks to Foreman. With his wealth of experience, Mr Jayakumar mentors and trains newer workers, helps instill a strong culture of safety, and promotes best practices.

KTC welcomes the removal of the maximum period of employment restrictions, which allows experienced workers like Mr Jayakumar to continue contributing to the company's productivity and delivery of projects.

Second, we will expand the list of Non-Traditional Sources to include Laos, Cambodia and Bhutan, considering industry demand. This will allow firms to build a more skilled and resilient workforce.

Third, we will expand the Non-Traditional Sources Occupation List (NTS-OL), to enable businesses in Services and Manufacturing to hire skilled workers from Non-Traditional Sources in more non-PMET occupations, in consultation with industry partners and unions. On top of that, we have included nearly all the manufacturing operator roles recommended by the AfA. We will also include heavy vehicle drivers and cooks. As NTS-OL workers must be paid at least $2,000, this will not undermine efforts to uplift locals in these occupations.

Finally, we recognise companies need manpower support for transformation. The Manpower for Strategic Economic Priorities (M-SEP) scheme provides transitionary Work Permit and S Pass quota to firms contributing to Singapore's economic priorities. We will expand the eligible programmes and add a new pathway for firms that send locals on overseas exposure or leadership programmes. We will also extend the support period from two to three years.

These changes will help us move towards a higher-quality Work Permit workforce. At the same time, we recognise there are essential roles that are difficult to automate and recruit locals for. We have been providing targeted flexibilities, such as for conservancy cleaning.

Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo shared how the Ministry of Home Affairs is carefully augmenting the recruitment pool with foreigners for emergency medical services and auxiliary police officers, even as they maintain a strong local core.

Ms Hazel Poa also suggested allocating more foreign workforce quota to firms with inclusive employment practices. Mr Mark Lee and Mr Zhulkarnian Abdul Rahim had made similar suggestions in Parliament previously. We will study this proposal carefully, given possible trade-offs with the key objectives of our foreign workforce levers to spur business transformation and encourage firms to hire locals.

We are actively reviewing our Work Permit framework to drive transformation, while nuancing it to support different needs as our workforce changes. Updates will be shared in due course.

Moving on to empowering our workers. Singaporeans have a world-class education and work ethic. As our economy transforms, we are well-poised to take advantage of new opportunities. However, formal education alone is not sufficient. The OECD's Survey of Adult Skills found that Singaporeans' literacy skills declined as early as in their mid-30s. We must do more to pursue lifelong learning.

In our Forward Singapore engagements, Singaporeans shared that they looked forward to new opportunities but were uncertain how to get there. Career Health SG is our commitment to empower Singaporeans to develop meaningful and resilient careers amidst economic changes.

For instance, as mentioned in my Ministry of Trade and Industry COS speech, as we transition to a green economy, we are actively reskilling workers to take on new or redesigned green jobs through programmes like the CCP for Sustainability Professionals and the CCP for Future Energy and Chemical sector.

Employers also have a big part to play in supporting their employees. An SBF survey showed 60% of large companies and less than half of SMEs provide their employees with training. We understand. I used to run a business before. When business is good, there is no time to train. When business is bad, there is no money to train.

Employers may also be unsure how to guide employees in their career journey. That is why we have invested in a holistic set of initiatives to support Singaporeans' career health. Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon will elaborate on MOM's efforts to empower Singaporeans to build career health and strengthen support for employers.

Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Leong Mun Wai asked about underemployment in Singapore. Mr Leong has asserted, not for the first time, that underemployment is a severe problem – that it is increasingly difficult for Singaporeans to find jobs matching their skills and aspirations.

I want to share with everyone – I understand the anxieties and I empathise with the apprehensions that Singaporeans today have, that they feel in a rapidly changing world. As Mr Patrick Tay mentioned, the faster pace of economic transformation, all of this accelerated change may lead to mismatches between employers' needs and workers' aspirations.

The underemployment that Mr Leong described earlier is referred to as skills-related underemployment, where individuals believe that their job does not fully utilise their skills. However, today, there is no internationally accepted way to measure this. I shared before – we are working with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to develop such measurements. But this international collaborative process will take time. What we have and what we can measure objectively is time-related underemployment, which he talked about – the one-hour time rate. This is well-defined and an internationally accepted measure. This means, persons working part-time but willing and able to engage in additional work.

Just to share with everyone, and for Mr Leong's consumption as well, Singapore's resident time-related underemployment rate is low and stable, averaging 3.1% over the past decade and it was at a low of 2.3% last year, in 2024.

This is lower than many other developed economies like the United Kingdom (UK) and Finland.

Some workers have personal reasons for taking on jobs that may not match their qualifications – reasons like passion, lifestyle goals or caregiving needs. We respect these choices and we want those who are underemployed voluntarily to have a range of jobs to choose from to suit their needs and their aspirations.

The most common example, which Mr Leong also cited as proof of underemployment, are former PMETs – his example of a senior vice president of a bank who is now a private hire driver. However, we should be very careful about using anecdotal examples and extrapolating this. Only 1.1% of our resident workforce, or about 28,000 residents, are working primarily as private-hire car drivers. We did a survey, an MOM survey, and it shows 63% do so on a "preferred basis" and they shared that they enjoyed the flexibility and freedom the job provides, not because they cannot find permanent work.

Similarly, a survey by Grab shows that more than 70% of their drivers have chosen to take up this work because of "flexibility of time".

What about self-employed persons (SEPs)? MOM's latest survey shows that 94.1% of SEPs who did own account work as a primary form of their livelihood, for example, financial advisors, insurance agents, real estate agents, taxi drivers, private-hire car drivers, preferred such work arrangements. Among them are degree holders who willingly take on jobs that typically do not require a degree because either they found the current work meaningful, because it suits their needs, or maybe it gives them the flexibility that they want.

On the other metrics that Mr Leong alluded to, the picture is also not the dire one that he has painted. Compared to other developed economies, our residents have one of the highest median incomes and labour force participation rates, and lowest unemployment rates.

Incomes of residents have risen across all percentiles in the last decade. Residents earn one of the highest wages in the world, unlike in many other developed countries where wages have either stagnated or declined. The median starting salaries of our graduates are higher than other countries like the UK and Australia, even after adjusting for purchasing power parity.

7.15 pm

More locals have secured PMET jobs in the last decade, with the proportion of our resident workforce in PMET jobs increasing from 54% to 64%. This corresponds to the share of tertiary-educated workers in the resident workforce, which increased from 51% to slightly over 60%, over the same period that we are comparing.

If underemployment was widespread, the PMET share would be much lower than the share of tertiary-educated workers.

The incidence of discouraged workers; that means workers who have given up searching for work, also declined from 0.4% in 2023 to 0.3% in 2024. Majority of these were seniors, whom we are now helping to upskill them for new job opportunities.

I understand – I spend a lot of time talking about the data, but the data may not reassure those who are feeling anxious or who may have lived experiences, difficulties going through their livelihood, struggling to find roles, struggling to find purpose and meaning in life, or to find roles that match their expectations.

Let me assure every fellow Singaporean, for those in this phase of your career journey, you are not alone. Let us help you. We have a wide range of programmes to help you stay up to date in the job market, for you to stay employed, for you to stay confident, for you to seize good job opportunities. That is the spirit behind our Career Health SG.

So, we have a whole list of help schemes that are available. I put up a glossary just to help me, to remind myself as I am going through this speech. There are at least 34 of them. I am happy to share them at the end of this debate and I hope that all of us, all of our fellow Singaporeans, will take full advantage of these programmes to broaden your career horizons.

At the same time, we are committed to ensuring a fair level playing field. We will continue to promote fair employment practices and we will take firm actions against discriminatory hiring. That is how we pass the Workplace Fairness Legislation Bill a month and a half ago.

For those facing setbacks, we have your back.

From April this year, the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme will provide temporary financial support for involuntarily unemployed persons while they look for a job. And like I said, this is just a transitional support scheme. It sits on top of whatever social assistance schemes that you are already on. Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon will share how eligible individuals can qualify for payouts under the scheme.

For Singaporeans aspiring to become corporate leaders, overseas exposure is crucial. Through the Forward SG exercise, the AfAs on Business Leadership Development (AfA-BLD) and on Business Competitiveness, businesses have highlighted constantly the need for Singaporean corporate leaders with global exposure and perspectives. As stated in the Forward SG report, we will do more to help Singaporeans stand out as leaders in their respective fields.

Mr Sharael Taha and Mr Edward Chia will be glad to learn that we will redouble our efforts to groom the next generation of Singapore Global Leaders on three fronts.

First, as announced by Prime Minister in his Budget speech, we will expand career development opportunities for Singaporean professionals. Today, we support companies to groom Singaporean talents through overseas postings and leadership milestone programmes. These programmes offered by agencies, such as Enterprise Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority, cover a range of sectors and support both early-career professionals and mid-career leaders.

We will double the collective capacity of these programmes from 400 participants a year to over 700. This will enable us to groom homegrown leaders, like Andrew Chia, the Head of Wealth and Retail Banking for Singapore, ASEAN and South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to his current role, MAS supported his posting to Jakarta as CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia, as part of their International Postings Programme (iPOST). The invaluable experience prepared him for the current role overseeing the Singaporean franchise and eight other regional markets.

Second, we will enhance overseas transition support for Singaporeans and their families. We know that moving overseas and back can be difficult for families, especially on housing and children's education. We will help to ease the transition. Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat owners with overseas postings during their minimum occupation period can approach HDB to explore flexibilities, such as deferring the minimum occupation period, if they have a clear and reasonable timeline to return to Singapore.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has measures to support families' education needs and preferences. Through the Assured School Placement scheme, MOE ensures that children of returning Singaporeans are guaranteed a place in a primary or secondary school with vacancies near their home. Those seeking admission to a secondary school based on merit and choice can also take part in the School Placement Exercise for Returning Singaporeans.

The Singapore Leaders Network (SGLN), a leadership community established in 2022 to prepare Singaporeans for regional and global leadership roles, will provide end-to-end support for Singaporeans embarking on overseas stints. It will connect participants with in-market communities and provide guidance on housing and education matters through relevant agencies.

Third, we will strengthen the ecosystem of our leadership communities. These are crucial for building professional networks and accessing career resources. As Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong mentioned, we will enhance SGLN to provide overseas transition support. We will scale-up networking programmes, mentorship opportunities and the flagship SGLN Fellowship programme for middle to senior Singaporean managers. We will share more details soon and I really encourage all aspiring Singaporean leaders to join the network.

We will also foster cross-sector networking between SGLN and sectoral communities, like the Singapore Financial Leaders Network and the SG Digital Leadership Accelerator.

As our population ages, we need to really be very forward-leaning on extending the productive longevity of seniors and strengthening retirement adequacy. So, we will help our senior workers to remain productive for as long as they wish to. We will launch a tripartite-led effort this year to co-develop ideas with citizens and businesses on enabling multi-stage careers for mature workers.

As announced by the Prime Minister in his Budget speech, we will extend the Senior Employment Credit to continue supporting employers in hiring senior workers. We will help our seniors build up their retirement savings by taking the next step to raise senior worker CPF contribution rates in 2026. We will also, at the same time, extend the CPF Transition Offset for employers.

Ms Sylvia Lim suggested changes to the CPF system, including increasing the amount that members can withdraw at age 55. I think she knows that this will reduce members' future monthly payouts when they might need it most. The current withdrawal rules strike a balance between members' immediate needs and ensuring sufficient retirement income for life.

Property owners have the flexibility to set aside their Full Retirement Sum in property and cash to withdraw their retirement account savings above the Basic Retirement Sum. And members born from 1958 can also withdraw up to 20% of their retirement account savings when they turn 65.

To Ms Sylvia Lim's other suggestion to require spousal consent for CPF nominations, our current approach, I have said that before, is aligned with that for wills. The distribution of one's assets is a personal decision. Requiring spousal consent would mean members are no longer free to choose who would receive their CPF savings upon their demise. We will continue reviewing our CPF policies to ensure relevance.

We have made good progress in strengthening the retirement adequacy for Singaporeans through moves in the last two years. We have been raising the CPF monthly salary ceiling to keep pace with salaries. I have said earlier on, it will be raised further from $7,400 to $8,000 from 1 January 2026.

We have also put up the Majulah Package where 1.6 million Singaporeans received the MediSave bonus in December 2024 and about 800,000 also received the Retirement Savings Bonus. From this year, eligible working seniors will receive the annual Earn and Save Bonus for as long as they work.

And this is how the Government has enhanced Singaporeans' retirement adequacy, even as we study moves, such as the Lifetime Retirement Investment Scheme, which Mr Louis Chua mentioned. Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon will share more on our initiatives to help seniors build their retirement savings and stay engaged in the workforce.

It is also important that we foster fair and inclusive workplaces, so that all workers can share in the fruits of our growth. We will continue to uplift our lower-wage workers. To help them upskill for better jobs, we will enhance Workfare Skill Support. We will also enhance the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS) to support employers in wage increases. Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad will share more.

We want to foster inclusive workplaces where everyone can contribute, even with different work arrangements. We will enhance CCPs for the reskilling of mid-career new hires and employees on flexi-load jobs.

For persons with disabilities, we have supported firms in making reasonable accommodations, including the Employment Support for Employers to hire Persons with Disabilities scheme and ongoing work on a Tripartite Advisory. We will also help them to build an adequate nest egg.

In the Budget speech, the Prime Minister announced the expansion of the Match Retirement Savings Scheme to include Singaporeans with disabilities, regardless of age, so long as they meet certain criteria. And we will also continue to support the employment of ex-offenders. Minister of State Gan Siow Huang will share more.

We have improved our Workplace Safety and Health outcomes to be on par with developed countries, but we have to continue to stay vigilant. It is always a work in progress. Senior Minister of State Zaqy will share more.

As our economic transformation speeds up, we hear concerns on workers' protection. We will embark on a review of the Employment Act with our tripartite partners to ensure that we continue to strike the right balance between protection for workers, but preserving, at the same time, flexibility for businesses.

We thank Mr Patrick Tay, Mr Louis Ng for their suggestions on the Employment Act, which we will consider in our review and I think we will share more later this year.

Ms Jean See asked about support for employees when companies undergo M&As. These companies must plan retrenchments and contract cessations fairly, based on objective and consistent criteria, following the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment. And to guide employers to strengthen their capabilities, we have built up an ecosystem of support through the Institute for Human Resource Professionals and SNEF.

Mr Mark Lee suggested enhancing CCPs for employees redeployed after M&As. As I said in my Ministry of Trade and Industry COS speech, CCPs already offer substantial support for such workers, especially for mature workers, who may need more help during business transitions like mergers. Nonetheless, we will study this.

We also thank Ms See on her points on the fair use of AI. Today, all employers must comply with Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, regardless of whether AI is used in their employment decisions. The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) has yet to encounter complaints of discrimination involving AI.

Mr Chairman, I will say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] As Confucius said, "At 30, I stood on my feet. At 40, I was no longer lost. And at 50, I knew what destiny is in store for me." Similarly, MOM will help Singaporeans achieve their career aspirations at every stage of life.

For those new to the workforce or looking to switch careers, we will help unlock your career potential. For example, we have enhanced the CCPs to help more workers, including those in flexi-load jobs, upgrade their skills. If you are a working professional aiming to take your career to new heights, we will help you gain overseas work experience and expand your professional networks.

To our senior workers, please be assured: we will support your continued employment and help meet your basic retirement needs.

To support employers in hiring senior workers, we have extended the Senior Employment Credit. Next year, we will take the next step to raise CPF contribution rates for senior workers and extend the CPF Transition Offset.

We are also helping Singaporeans accumulate retirement savings through the Majulah Package, Silver Support Scheme and Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, for greater assurance in their golden years.

MOM also looks after low-wage workers. We enhanced Workfare Skills Support to support your upskilling. To support employers in raising your wages, we have also enhanced the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme. We will build a safe, inclusive workplaces and ensure fair competition between local and foreign workers.

For businesses, we will support your transformation and talent development efforts to help you continue to thrive.

This is a commitment by MOM to Singaporeans. The Government will work with employees and employers to build a better tomorrow.

7.30 pm

(In English): In conclusion, Mr Chairman, today, the global order underpinning peace and prosperity has been upended in a matter of weeks. Supply chains are shifting. Technology is advancing rapidly. There is great uncertainty.

But Singaporeans have the mettle and drive to navigate this turbulence and find new opportunities. We may be small, but we are nimble. We have never been defined by our limits, but by how we have responded to them and how we continue to respond to them. Through COVID-19, we have seen the adaptability and resilience of our businesses and workers even as we weathered crisis after crisis.

In today’s world, the idea of a single job or rice bowl may no longer hold true, because change is not just constant, it is accelerating, and new challenges and disruptions will always emerge. But we can forge something stronger, and that is the resilience, adaptability and courage to take on whatever comes next. When one door closes, we will carve out a new path. If the ingredients change, we can master new recipes.

We will walk with every Singaporean to help you journey through that change. We will help you realise your fullest potential, so long as you are willing to do so.

While we may not be certain of what lies ahead of us, one thing is certain. The Government will never let you down. The Government, workers and businesses together, coming in unity, in unison – we will achieve a brighter future for Singapore and for Singaporeans. [Applause.]

The Chairman: We will take clarifications at the end. The next Member is not here. Ms Yeo Wan Ling.

Enhance Progressive Wage Credit Scheme

Ms Yeo Wan Ling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): The PWMs for retail and food services sectors were introduced in September 2022 and March 2023 respectively and has positively impacted 75,000 lower-wage workers, with wage increases of between 8.5% and 19% and clear career pathways. The two tripartite workgroups will convene again this year to determine wage ladders for the next phase.

Employers support uplifting the livelihoods of our lower-wage workers, but many are grappling with business pressures. In 2024, over 3,000 F&B businesses closed in Singapore, the highest number since 2005. Challenges such as a looming trade war, global economic uncertainty, rising cost of raw materials, e-commerce competition and the development of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone are making our retail and F&B businesses rethink their strategies.

Given the concerns raised by businesses, what can the Ministry do to further strengthen the PWCS to support firms in raising wages beyond 2026. Could the Ministry look into recognising enterprises who have attained the PW Mark with additional wage support?

Business owners have also shared the need to further streamline the PWM reporting process to the MOM and CPF. One company reported that Government compliance costs have gone up by 30% while another shared that they quadrupled their HR staff strength after PWM implementation.

Since the PWM has been in place since 2012, how can the Ministry refine reporting processes to reduce administrative burdens on businesses while maintaining accountability?

Workfare Skills Support Expansion

Ms Mariam Jaafar (Sembawang): Sir, Budget 2025 has made enhancements to the Workfare Skills Support scheme to provide lower-wage workers more access to more substantive reskilling and upskilling and training allowances modelled after the level-up programme for those over 40 to those over 30.

Sir, this is an important move – recognising that those over 30 are also at a critical stage in their careers, often balancing the demands of work, family and personal aspirations. Many lower-income workers also have children relatively earlier in their lives. This will provide a boost to those who are eager to take charge of their careers, lowering the financial hurdles they may face.

Career growth and skills developments should not be bound by age. We want all Singaporeans, no matter where they are in their careers, to be equipped to succeed. The sooner they get on board the train, the better. Indeed, some low-wage workers aged below 30 have also been out of school and in the job market for a while and would benefit from more training opportunities.

How will the Government educate and encourage lower-wage workers over 30 to take up the longer courses that lead to deeper upskilling and better employment? Will the Government consider expanding the Workfare Skills Support enhancements further, say to those over 25?

The Chairman: Mr Melvin Yong. Take your two cuts together.

Progressive Wage Model

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Radin Mas): Mr Chairman, it has been almost two years since the implementation of recommendations by the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers. What has been the progress of these efforts and what are the benchmarks that the MOM uses to measure success?

It is heartening that the Government has taken the lead in making the Progressive Wage Mark a contractual obligation for Government tenders. How many lower-wage workers have been uplifted through the PW Mark, beyond the companies that are subject to mandatory licensing and foreign worker requirements? What more can we do to encourage companies to adopt the PW Mark?

The PWM has uplifted wages and more importantly, catalysed longer-term shifts in the PWM sectors. I urge MOM to extend the PWM to the pest management sector, which is an essential service that has many rank and file workers earning wages below the 20th percentile of resident workers. Implementing PWM will help reduce attrition and hopefully, transform the industry into one that can provide a viable career for Singaporeans.

Workplace Safety and Health

Mr Chairman, when our annualised fatal injury rate held steady at 1.0 per 100,000 workers for 2023 and the first half of 2024, I then cautioned that we must continue to work hard to keep our workplace accidents as low as we can.

Unfortunately, complacency seems to have set in for the construction sector. In December last year, MOM noted a spike in construction workplace deaths in the second half of 2024. Worryingly, it was reported that many of these incidents were due to the lack of basic safety measures or non-compliance with established safety measures.

The spike in workplace fatalities is deeply concerning, because every life lost is one too many.

Can MOM provide an update on the Safety Accountability, Focus and Empowerment (SAFE) measures implemented thus far? How have these measures improved workplace safety and health ownership? How are these SAFE measures expected to improve safety in the construction sector?

What is the Ministry's plan to sustain the collective tripartite efforts on total workplace safety and health (WSH), including efforts on occupational disease prevention? Ensuring workplace safety and health is a never-ending endeavour. What is the Ministry's plan to foster a stronger workplace safety culture at every company, beyond just enforcement?

Work Safety for Creative Freelancers

Ms See Jinli Jean: Freelancers are part of the value chain to create and deliver a finished product. Oftentimes, the imbalance of bargaining power between freelancers and service buyers means that freelancers are held in check by market reality when pricing their fees. Thus, freelancers would tend to price their fees based on what the market is prepared to pay, without factoring in the cost of safeguarding their health and safety at work.

In the context of the creative industry, service buyers such as creative production houses are vendors and contractors that are held in check by the market reality of tight timelines and tighter budgets imposed by commissioning firms and Government agencies. Because of budget limitations, creative production houses could be apathetic towards putting in measures that safeguard the health and safety of freelancers, including guidance on a cap on the total hours of work on set and ensuring risk mitigation for higher-risk activities such as specialised rigging, smoke effects, stunts and the use of weapons.

Could the Minister share if the Tripartite Standard on Procurement of Services from Media Freelancers has promoted a culture of shared responsibility for workplace safety in the creative industry? What are the Ministry's plans to ensure that freelancers and service buyers in the creative industry are familiar with the health and safety requirements that are relevant to the work that they do, control, contract or commission? Would the Ministry consider outlining safe work safeguards, such as reasonable hours of work for the creative and media industry?

Mental Health Resources for SMEs

Miss Rachel Ong: Chairman, burnout is a growing concern in Singapore, with 61% of workers experiencing it and 73% feeling stress weekly, according to recent studies.

SMEs face even greater challenges, often lacking the resources to support employees' mental well-being. While larger firms can afford to provide mental health support and initiatives, SMEs struggle without dedicated infrastructure, leaving workers very vulnerable.

I am grateful that the Government has introduced initiatives like the Total Workplace Safety and Health programme, offering free consultations, as well as HPB's integrated workplace mental health solution, which equips workplaces with wellness tools.

Yet with burnout widespread, especially in SMEs, more targeted support is needed. How will the Government enhance mental health resources for SMEs that lack the capacity to manage these challenges effectively?

Collective Workplace Safety/Health Performance

Ms Yeo Wan Ling: Singapore will be super-ageing society as defined by the United Nations (UN) in 2026. As an ageing society, workplaces must be more inclusive and accommodative to the physical needs of a more senior staff base, from providing more ergonomic support to more aware of long-term work-related disorders.

In addition, more attention and conversations can be situated around lifecycle changes such as menopause, which Duke-NUS has dubbed the Menopause Wave to come in a super-ageing Singapore. Some progressive companies have put together menopause policies, which cover the physical and mental well-being of peri-menopause and menopause employees, but efforts are at best spotty.

Mental wellness is also an increasingly important workplace safety and health performance indicator, with around one in seven people in Singapore experiencing a mental disorder in their lifetime. Studies have also suggested that work stressors were among factors associated with poor mental health. Some workplaces have mental wellness champions, but more can be done to enhance the training and expertise of such champions.

Given that it is important that safety, wellness and health performance in our workplaces continue to evolve to support our workforce changes, how will the Ministry continue to support employers, especially the less resourced SMEs, in the collective efforts to build a strong safety and wellness culture in corporate Singapore?

Support for Mature Jobseekers

Mr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong): Chairman, according to our tripartite guidelines for retrenchment, an employer is presumed to have retrenched an employee when the employer terminates the employment contract with "no plan to fill the vacancy any time soon".

However, in practice, there could have been instances in which employers terminated employees in ways that were calculated to fly under the radar of retrenchment. Employees might have been made to resign or are let go in the name of poor performance, even if employers were really planning to make their roles redundant and not planning to fill the vacancy any time soon.

So, the affected employees feel like they are in fact being retrenched. If they file a case with the TADM, they can probably get a judgement in their favour, but affected employees might not have chosen to do so for various reasons and effectively they chose to forgo the retrenchment benefits that they ought to have received. I call this stealth retrenchment.

We know mature workers in their forties and fifties are especially affected by retrenchments in general. My guess is that they are also disproportionately affected by stealth retrenchments, as I just described.

Retrenchment affects a mature worker profoundly. Emotionally, for sure, but also financially, especially if the mature worker is sandwiched between children and elderly parents. And retrenchment done in stealth adds salt to the wound and cuts even deeper as the worker feels a sense of injustice, betrayal and suffering in silence.

7.45 pm

What are MOM's plans to enhance job matching support for mature workers and help them bounce back from setbacks? And in particular, for those who were told to "resign", ostensibly on their own accord, but were, in reality, laid off and thus involuntarily unemployed, will they still be able to access the Jobseeker Support Scheme and the temporary financial support of up to $6,000 for six months when the Scheme requires the jobseeker to have been involuntarily unemployed?

Productive Longevity for Senior Workers

Mr Yip Hon Weng: Chairman, I have long championed extending the productive longevity of our senior workers – not just to tackle demographic shifts, but because their experience, resilience and skills are invaluable.

Yet, in our ageing society, are we truly harnessing this potential? In 2022, 31% of residents aged 65 and above were employed, but nearly 69% earned less than $2,500 monthly. The old-age support ratio has plunged from six in 2014 to 3.5 in 2024. Are we underutilising a workforce that still has much to give?

What if we flipped the script? The employment rate for seniors aged 65 to 69 hit 47.5% in 2022. More seniors want to work, but are we offering them the right opportunities?

To our senior workers: lifelong learning is not just a buzzword. It is the key to career reinvention. How can we better match skills to new roles, including those in the gig economy? I have pushed for tailored courses that align with seniors' interests and experience. Are we doing enough to ensure that fair wages reflect their productivity?

To employers: age-friendly workplaces are not just nice to have; they are a necessity. Over 5,000 companies have committed to raising retirement and re-employment ages. But are they redesigning roles to make work more flexible? Are job-sharing and hybrid arrangements becoming the norm, or the exception?

To the Government and tripartite partners: the Senior Employment Credit benefited 400,000 senior workers and 90,000 employers in 2023. But why stop there? Could we proactively partner with businesses to create more opportunities? It is time to rethink ageing in the workforce. Can we build a society where every individual, regardless of age, has a place to contribute meaningfully?

Extending Employability of Senior Workers

Mr Sharael Taha: Mr Chairman, with increased life expectancy and Singaporeans being healthier, it is even more important to plan for retirement and retirement adequacy. Senior workers may also want to continue working with shorter hours, lighter workloads or flexible schedules. However, the employment of seniors will require a shift in mindset from all stakeholders.

Have our policies on senior employment, such as Senior Employment Credit, job redesign and flexible work arrangements made an impact on senior employment? Are we starting to see seniors getting employed in better redesign jobs that leverage on their strength and experience? Has job redesign provided more and enough opportunities for our senior workers?

While ensuring that our workforce is prepared for a longer retirement adequacy, workers must also plan for their extended career longevity by taking responsibility for their career and skills upgrading, especially as part of their career health check and retirement planning. How can we help our workers plan for upskilling to enhance their employability and extend their career longevity?

Fractional Employment

Mr Mark Lee: Chairman, workforce transformation presents a valuable opportunity for businesses to address manpower challenges while tapping into a diverse and skilled labour pool. The extension of the Senior Employment Credit and Enabling Employment Credit is a welcome move, as it enables businesses to tap into underutilised labour pools such as seniors and persons with disabilities.

To build on this momentum, will the Ministry consider supporting job fractionalisation, allowing seniors and persons with disabilities to contribute meaningfully through FWAs tailored to their needs? Additionally, can the Ministry explore tripartite standards for fractional employment, funding support for part-time workers undergoing training, and the creation of official platforms, working alongside trade associations and chambers, to facilitate and manage a fractional workforce? These measures would not only expand Singapore' workforce capacity but also provide businesses with more adaptable and sustainable manpower solutions.

Fostering Inclusive Growth

Mr Sharael Taha: Chairman, while Singapore maintains a low unemployment rate and offers many career opportunities, securing meaningful employment remains a significant challenge for seniors, differently-abled individuals, and those with caregiving responsibilities. Have we moved the needle in expanding job opportunities for these groups of individuals? Is it enough?

Take, for example, SG Enables efforts to connect persons with disabilities to jobs while commendable, the employment rate for this group still remains relatively low. Similarly, the Senior Employment Credit incentivises business to hire older workers, but if you were to ask any seniors looking for jobs, they will still share that age bias persist in hiring practices. FWAs, whether flexi-load, flexi-time or flexi-place have been promoted. However, adoption remains inconsistent.

How do we go beyond schemes and incentives to truly shift workplace culture towards inclusive hiring practices? Should we consider stronger regulatory measures? What more can be done to ensure that employment inclusivity is not just a policy goal, but a reality for all Singaporeans?