Enhancing Employability of Caregivers who Experienced Career Interruption

6 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Government will consider a study on enhancing the employability of caregivers through raising awareness among employers of the character traits and personal values demonstrated when an individual has interrupted his career in order to be a caregiver for their elderly or ailing parent.

The Minister of State for Manpower (Ms Gan Siow Huang) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) currently has no plans to commission a study to raise awareness of the character traits and personal values of individuals who disrupted their careers to be caregivers for their elderly or ailing parents. We recognise positive traits, such as resilience and sense of duty, among this group of caregivers. However, we are mindful not to overgeneralise caregivers as they are unique individuals after all, and employers ought to assess each of them fairly based on their qualities and ability to fulfil the job requirements without bias.

To support caregivers in returning to work, the Government and tripartite partners encourage the adoption of flexible work arrangements, or FWAs. Having access to FWAs will enable caregivers to work sustainably around their caregiving needs. We have developed resources, such as implementation guides and FWA policy templates, and conducted workshops to guide employers in adopting FWAs. We will also be introducing a set of Tripartite Guidelines on FWAs by 2024, and this will set norms for FWA requests to be requested and evaluated fairly.

In addition, Workforce Singapore provides employment facilitation programmes and services for caregivers who need support to return to the workforce. For example, Career Conversion Programmes provide training and salary support to employers who hire and reskill mid-career jobseekers for new occupations, with higher support for those who have not been in work for at least six months.

Mr Speaker, caregivers returning to work are a resource and talent pool that companies should tap on to meet their manpower needs. I encourage employers to factor in the caregivers' past work experiences, their qualifications and skills, as well as their personal attributes, that are relevant to the job they are applying for and to provide fair support to them in returning to the workforce.

Mr Speaker: Dr Tan Wu Meng.

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): I thank the Minister of State for her answer. Mr Speaker, I have met residents who interrupted their careers, gave up their existing jobs in their 40s and 50s, to look after a terminally ill parent – dedication, devotion in their parents' time of greatest need. When they try to get back to the workforce, they find that because of the gap on the curriculum vitae, there are some employers whose human resources (HR) departments write them off, even before being considered for interview.

Can I ask the Minister of State what is being done to work with HR practitioners to encourage inclusive and enlightened HR practices that recognise a worker who has interrupted their career and may have done so for family reasons and/or for caregiver reasons, and to help these workers have the best possible opportunity for a fair chance at getting back to the workforce?

Ms Gan Siow Huang: Mr Speaker, MOM works with Institute for Human Resource Professionals as well as employers under the Singapore National Employers Federation network to emphasise the need for fair employment and not to discriminate against any group, including caregivers. Members may have observed that yesterday, MOM, together with our tripartite partners, released our interim report on workplace fairness legislation, which includes protecting caregivers and several groups against discrimination.