MOM looking at widening support for mid-career and senior workers, expanding protections for PMETs

SINGAPORE – More workers, including seniors and those in job transitions, could qualify for greater support from various schemes as the Manpower Ministry considers adjusting requirements to keep programmes relevant amid changes in the job market.

Workers are taking longer to find new jobs, and the rate at which they are doing so is dropping, said Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau.

The age bands of those affected is also widening, said Lau in a media interview.

“You start to see more being affected in their 30s because restructuring doesn’t have an age cut off – it’s a role cut off or an occupation cut off.”

Many schemes supporting these workers, such as the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, are still relevant but tend to have age-based eligibility cut-offs, Lau said.

This programme, launched in 2024 and comprising subsidies and credits for reskilling, is currently only available for Singaporeans aged 40 and above.

MOM is also looking at how to better support professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in the middle-income bands, Lau said.

These workers are facing higher rates of retrenchment, and some are not able to switch into similar occupations or stay in the same industry.

About 60% of those who switch industries see a slightly lower wage, she added.

Looking at the data, the amount of support they receive would have to be improved, Lau said.

“This is not just to make them happy,” said Lau. It is to recognise that most of them are supporting families, children, the elderly, and have mortgages.

“If we want them to focus on the job search process and retraining, you have to take away a bit more of the burden at home. Otherwise, you can’t blame them for saying ‘I’ll just take the first job that comes along’, or ‘I will do private-hire driving because at least that pays the bills’.”

Instead, the Government wants these workers to move into growth sectors of the economy, she said. “So the support we provide will also have to improve.”

Lau did not specify which scheme MOM is looking at expanding, but the main programme supporting the involuntarily unemployed is the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme.

It provides up to $6,000 in financial support over six months to workers who earned up to $5,000 a month.

Labour MPs have contended that the income eligibility ceiling should be raised to the median wage of a PMET in Singapore, which is about $7,600.

The Government is also considering more protections for these workers through the law, Lau said, referring to an ongoing tripartite review of the Employment Act – Singapore’s main labour law.

Many of its clauses are targeted at blue-collar workers, Lau said, and the review will see whether to extend some of these protections to PMETs.

Lau also signalled more support for senior workers through the Workfare scheme – which tops up salaries to help lower-income workers save for retirement.

The scheme has worked well for Singapore but there is a “need to give people a bit of a boost”, Lau said.

Referencing her experience at the Health Ministry, where she was deputy secretary before resigning to run in the 2025 general election, Lau said the trend is that Singaporeans are living longer and many may not be healthy in their later years.

“You watch that trend, then you know, in terms of retirement adequacy, it’s not going to be enough. Whatever they have accumulated in their CPF up until age 55 to 60 may not last them during retirement.”

MOM wants to give senior workers the chance to stay employed, she said, citing recently announced recommendations from a tripartite workgroup on senior employment.

Announced on Oct 26, they raise the retirement age to 65 and the re-employment age to 70 on Jan 1, 2029, a year ahead of the original target.

MOM is also working with companies to put out flexible roles for seniors, including possibly working only on certain days of the week, Lau said

“We do know workers in their 50s; many of them are caregivers, so they have elderly parents at home who may be bedridden, and they need that kind of flexibility. Some are, of course, also grandparents, and then they help with the childcare.”