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A new office will be set up to help employers defray the costs of developing and implementing flexi-load arrangements for seniors. — PHOTO: BUSINESS TIMES via The Straits Times\/ANN<\/p>\nSINGAPORE (The Straits Times\/ANN): The retirement age will be raised to 65 on Jan 1, 2029, and the re-employment age to 70, as part of Singapore\u2019s measures to build age-friendly jobs and age-diverse workplaces.<\/p>\n
The changes will take effect one year ahead of the original target.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis gives senior workers greater assurance that they can continue working if they wish to,\u201d the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment said on Oct 26.<\/p>\n
The retirement age was raised to 64 earlier in July, while the re-employment age was raised to 69.<\/p>\n
The workgroup, which was set up in July 2025 to review and refresh Singapore\u2019s senior employment strategy, outlined six recommendations, which the Government has accepted.<\/p>\n
Broadly, the moves will help seniors stay employed and return to work after a break; support those who wish to work beyond the statutory retirement and re-employment ages; and provide more targeted support for lower-wage seniors.<\/p>\n
The workgroup comprises representatives from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).<\/p>\n
Its recommendations follow consultations with more than 1,000 stakeholders, including employers, industry and union representatives, workers, human resources professionals and academics, as well as overseas study trips.<\/p>\n
Creating flexi-load arrangements<\/p>\n
The workgroup\u2019s report, released on Oct 26, noted that while flexi-place and flexi-time arrangements are fairly common, there is a \u201csignificant gap\u201d in flexi-load options for seniors.<\/p>\n
Under MOM\u2019s Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests, flexi-place arrangements allow employees to work from different locations, such as from home, while flexi-time arrangements allow employees to vary their working hours, such as staggered start and end times.<\/p>\n
Flexi-load arrangements, meanwhile, allow employees to take on different workloads with corresponding adjustments to their remuneration.<\/p>\n
Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash said at a press conference on Oct 26 that the recommendations are meant to help seniors find meaningful and sustainable employment in more flexible ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor some seniors, this may mean continuing in the same job for longer. For others, it may mean moving into a different role, working at a different pace or adjusting work around changing personal circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat matters is that seniors who wish to continue working have meaningful options to do so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Among full-time resident employees aged 50 to 64, 85.5% were offered flexi-time work, and 78.7% were offered flexi-place arrangements. Just 74.5% were provided with flexi-load arrangements, according to MOM data for 2024.<\/p>\n
To help seniors who have left the workforce return to employment and encourage wider adoption of flexi-load arrangements, the workgroup proposed setting up a new flexi-load programme and a dedicated programme office. This replaces the Part-Time Re-employment Grant, which has supported about 68,500 seniors and 7,800 employers.<\/p>\n
The programme was developed after drawing on insights gained during the workgroup\u2019s study trip to Japan, which provides its senior workers with tailored support to help them navigate later-life career transitions.<\/p>\n
The Japanese government runs a network of Hello Work public employment offices that help people find jobs and access employment support. The offices have a \u201clifelong active worker support desk\u201d that assists elderly job seekers in finding re-employment opportunities, including flexi-load work arrangements.<\/p>\n
The workgroup acknowledged that companies traditionally structured around full-time work may find it challenging to create flexi-load options and will require additional resources to redesign jobs, systems and policies.<\/p>\n
The new office, led by the Skills and Workforce Development Agency and in collaboration with NTUC and SNEF, will push for more ways to help employers defray the costs of developing and implementing flexi-load arrangements.<\/p>\n
Redesigning and breaking jobs down into smaller roles, or job fractionalisation, would make it easier to match senior job seekers with employers\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n
Dinesh cited how the prototypes and solutions developed by the Alliance for Action on Empowering Multi-Stage Careers for Mature Workers have benefited more than 1,600 senior workers.<\/p>\n
Over a year, 30 organisations across six sectors designed, tested and refined these prototypes.<\/p>\n
For example, social service organisation Kampong Kapor Community Services has worked with HR firm Marsh People and Investments, formerly known as Mercer, to create alternative employment models such as session-based and case-based roles. Their goal is to attract and retain experienced workers, who may no longer find traditional full-time employment arrangements suitable.<\/p>\n
NTUC deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan said the workgroup\u2019s priority is about giving senior workers choice, assurance and dignity.<\/p>\n
That choice, however, must come with \u201cpersonal readiness and responsibility\u201d, he said, adding that senior workers can plan early and keep their skills current to prepare themselves for changes in jobs.<\/p>\n
A new office will be set up to help employers defray the costs of developing and implementing flexi-load arrangements for seniors. — PHOTO: BUSINESS TIMES via The Straits Times\/ANN<\/p>\n
Enhanced support for senior workers<\/p>\n
Singapore does not tax the first $20,000 of a tax resident\u2019s chargeable income, while workers aged 55 to 59 can currently claim up to $6,000 earned income relief and those 60 and above can claim up to $8,000.<\/p>\n
The workgroup recommends reducing seniors\u2019 tax burden by enhancing this relief for senior workers who work beyond the statutory retirement and re-employment ages. This would increase their take-home pay and incentivise them to remain in the workforce.<\/p>\n
Employers in Singapore must make a one-off Employment Assistance Payment (EAP) to eligible older workers as a last resort if they cannot find a suitable re-employment role for them when they reach the minimum retirement age.<\/p>\n
The workgroup proposed updating the minimum and maximum EAP amounts to account for wage growth in recent years and ensure that workers who are not re-employed continue to be adequately supported.<\/p>\n
The EAP is meant to help tide senior workers over while they look for alternative employment.<\/p>\n
To retain senior workers, another recommendation is to replace the expiring Senior Employment Credit (SEC) with a new Re-Employment Credit from 2028.<\/p>\n
The current SEC, which provides up to 7% in wage offsets to employers who hire Singaporeans aged 60 and above earning below $4,000 a month, will expire at the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
The workgroup\u2019s final recommendation is to enhance the Workfare Income Supplement and update the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme to improve salaries and retirement adequacy of lower-wage senior workers, while offering employers greater support to raise wages sustainably.<\/p>\n
As lower-wage seniors face greater challenges in achieving income and retirement adequacy, the workgroup said that it is important to ensure they can remain employed, productive and financially secure if they choose to continue working.<\/p>\n
More details on implementation of the workgroup\u2019s recommendations and grant parameters will be shared in the first half of 2027 during the Committee of Supply debates, where the Manpower Ministry will present its budget plans. — The Straits Times\/Asia News Network<\/p>\n
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