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Written Answer by Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister for Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on Encouraging Public and Private Sector Organisations to Adopt Age-proof Workplaces

Notice Paper No. 329 Of 2014 For The Sitting On Or After 3 November 2014 Question No. 304 For Written Answer

MP: Mr David Ong Kim Huat

To ask the Minister for Manpower with the Public Service taking the lead in extending the re-employment age till 67 years, what is being done to motivate the public and private sectors to redesign and re-engineer their workplaces to complement their senior workforce; and (b) what is being done to convince companies to age-proof the workplace so that older workers can be employed longer and remain productive.

Answer

  1. Given our ageing population, the proportion of older workers in our workforce will increase significantly in the next few decades. These workers are a potential asset to employers, with their skills, experience and wisdom honed over the years.
  2. To help older workers contribute to the fullest, the Government introduced the WorkPro programme in April 2013. One of the components under WorkPro is the Age Management Grant1, which provides incentives to employers to adopt progressive workplace practices to help older workers to work longer and more productively. To help employers to start implementing positive age management practices, the Age Management Portal provides a list of age-friendly practices that employers can undertake to help older workers continue in purposeful and productive work. For instance, employers are encouraged to appoint their older workers as mentors and trainers for younger new staff, enabling the employer to better tap on their experience and expertise.
  3. In addition, employers that wish to re-engineer their workplaces for an ageing workforce can tap on WorkPro’s Job Redesign Grant2 to enhance their work processes or acquire equipment and systems to support their mature employees.
  4. A key aspect of job redesign is to ensure an employee-centric approach that takes into account the changing needs of employees. On this front, public sector agencies engage older officers through open discussions to better understand their work preferences. Public sector agencies also offer flexible work arrangements that cater to the different needs and preferences of our officers, including our older and re-employed officers. These include part-time employment, option to start and end daily work earlier and telecommuting.
  5. Our tripartite partners, the National Trade Unions Congress (or NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (or SNEF), are active in reaching out to employers to highlight the importance of implementing job redesign. They do so through regular outreach and briefings to employers on WorkPro, and capitalise on suitable recruitment events to promote WorkPro to employers and individuals. As of end September 2014, more than 1,300 employers have tapped on the Age Management and Job Redesign Grants.
  6. At this year’s Age Management Seminar, the Government, NTUC and SNEF also showcased employers who had gone the extra mile to put in place age management practices, and reaped improvements in employee motivation and productivity.
  7. The Government and tripartite partners will continue to promote and provide strong support to employers to implement age-friendly practices redesign their workplace for an ageing workforce.

1The maximum claimable amount under the Age Management Grant is $20,000.
2The maximum claimable amount under the Job Redesign Grant for older workers is $150,000.