More Support for Employees in Their 50s who Voluntarily Resign to Secure New Employment

83 Mr Lee Hong Chuang asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) what are the measures that support employees in their 50s who voluntarily resign to secure new employment, beyond schemes for retrenched workers; and (b) whether additional mid-career job matching, training or employer incentive programmes will be introduced to improve their re-employment outcomes.

Ms Jasmin Lau: Workers in their 50s who voluntarily resign to pursue new employment can make use of a suite of employment facilitation services and programmes offered.

The Skills and Workforce Development Agency also offers programmes to help Singaporeans reskill for new jobs, with enhanced support for mature individuals. These include Career Conversion Programmes and the Mid-Career Pathways Programme. Singaporeans in their 50s can tap on the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy, which covers up to 90% of selected course fees for Singapore Citizens aged 40 and above. Those seeking a more substantive skills reboot can benefit from the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, which provides a $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit top-up and a monthly training allowance of up to $3,000.

The Ministry of Manpower, National Trades Union Congress and Singapore National Employers Federation are studying other measures under the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment (TWG-SE) to provide better support across a senior's career journey, including during mid-career transitions. The TWG-SE's recommendations will be announced later this year.