Partnering Businesses And Workers To Thrive In A Changed World

At this year's Committee of Supply Debate, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) articulate our approach to help businesses and workers transform and thrive in a changed world. Our approach rests on three pillars: empowering Singaporeans through all stages of life, enabling businesses to transform and compete, and building workplaces that work for all so that no one is left behind in Singapore's transformation journey.

 

 

 

2 To support fresh graduates who need more help amidst a more uncertain economic outlook, the Government will continue to offer Graduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) to 2025 graduates. For young PMEs who are looking to broaden their exposure, the Overseas Markets Immersion Programme (OMIP) will be expanded to provide earlier access to international experience, helping them build global perspectives and networks that strengthen their employers’ and Singapore’s competitive position.

 

 

3 To help Singaporeans gain confidence to work alongside AI and thrive, the Government will provide free access for six months to premium versions of AI tools for those who take up selected SkillsFuture AI courses. This encourages learners to apply their skills through regular use and experimentation with AI tools. We will roll this out in the second half of the year. More details on the qualifying AI courses and tools will be announced later.

 

 

4 The Government will merge SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and Workforce Singapore (WSG)¹ to form a new Statutory Board, Workforce and Skills Singapore (WSSG). WSSG will integrate the Government’s skills and employment capabilities to promote more seamless services in career guidance, skills advisory, training and job matching to better support our workers and employers to navigate a rapidly evolving economy. This is aligned with the Economic Strategic Review Committee’s recommendation to provide stronger end-to-end support for Singaporeans in bridging skills to jobs. WSSG will come under MOM, but will be jointly overseen by MOM and the Ministry of Education.

5 MOM and SNEF have convened the Alliance for Action on Advancing Career & Employment Services (AfA-ACES) to engage a wide range of stakeholders, and pilot new services for different workforce segments such as fresh graduates, mid-level professionals, caregivers and seniors. Through this AfA, the government will work with the sector to innovate, transform and develop new solutions.

 

6 The retirement and re-employment ages will be raised to 64 and 69 respectively on 1 July 2026. Senior Employment Credit (SEC) will be extended until December 2027, with the highest SEC wage support tier of 7% applying to workers aged 69 and above. This will give our seniors more flexibility and assurance to continue working if they wish to, while enabling employers to retain workers with valuable experience.

 

 

7 The Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution rates for senior workers aged above 55 to 60, and those aged above 60 to 65 will be increased by 1.5 and 1 percentage point respectively from 2027, in line with the recommendations of the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers. At the same time, the CPF Transition Offset will be extended by another year to December 2027, to cover 50% of the increase in employer CPF contributions in 2027².

 

8 To provide a new option for members to grow their CPF savings, the CPF Board will introduce a new investment scheme in the first half of 2028. This scheme will offer simplified, low-cost life-cycle investment products from commercial product providers for CPF members who wish to take on investment risk for potentially higher returns³.

 

9 Finally, the Government has introduced a Budget 2026 CPF Top-up to provide additional support to boost the retirement adequacy for eligible seniors aged 50 and above with lower CPF balances⁴.

 

 

 

10 The Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package (EWTP)⁵ will support employers in transforming their business and workforce for productivity-led growth. Under the EWTP, the SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant (Job Redesign+) (WDG(JR+)) will be rolled out in March 2026. Enterprises can receive support of up to 70% of project costs, capped at $150,000 per company. This will provide companies with practical tools and resources to tackle key challenges in job redesign such as reskilling, effective AI adoption, together with additional support to build capabilities for job redesign implementation.

 

11 MOM regularly reviews our foreign workforce policies⁶ to attract and retain a high-quality foreign workforce that complements local workers to grow the pie for all Singaporeans. To strengthen Singapore’s position as a global hub for AI and tech talent, MOM will introduce a new ONE Pass (AI and Tech) track in January 2027. This will replace the existing Tech.Pass and better recognise key industry leaders and innovators.

 

 

12 MOM will streamline the levy framework to make it easier for businesses to understand and plan their workforce strategies for hiring, training and retaining work permit holders (WPHs). For the Manufacturing and Services sectors, the bottom two levy tiers will be combined into a single tier. The highest levy tier rates will remain unchanged to ensure that firms with greater reliance on WPHs continue to pay appropriate levies. This will continue to incentivise the hiring of higher quality WPHs and better allocate them to more productive firms and sectors. In the Marine Shipyard and Process sectors, we will gradually align levy rates with those in the Construction Sector. The levy rates for basic-skilled (R2) WPHs will be increased by $100 and $150 respectively. These changes will take effect from 2028. At the same time, MOM will work with the industry to improve the framework for identifying higher-skilled workers who are eligible for lower levies.

 

13 MOM will expand the Non-Traditional Source Occupation List (NTS-OL) from September 2026 by adding eight new occupations in the social services, food services and air transportation sectors. This will allow businesses to hire higher quality non-PMET workers from more diverse sources for roles where it is more challenging to attract locals.

 

14 The Employment Pass (EP) minimum qualifying salary will be increased from $5,600 to $6,000, and the S Pass minimum qualifying salary will be increased from $3,300 to $3,600 to keep pace with local wage benchmarks. These changes will apply to new applications from 1 January 2027 and renewals from 1 January 2028. In addition, the S Pass minimum qualifying salary is expected to be around $4,000 - $4,500 by around 2030.

 

 

 

15 MOM will work with the labour movement and trades associations to strengthen career progression for skilled trades workers who form a critical part of Singapore's workforce. These "hands-on" roles offer stable career opportunities and will remain essential even as our economy evolves. MOM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Specialists Trade Alliance of Singapore (STAS) to pilot initiatives that will uplift the electrical trade, including structured career progression and professional development models, and skills or quality recognition frameworks.

 

16 Lower-wage workers will benefit from enhanced wage and training measures⁷. The Local Qualifying Salary will be raised from $1,600 to $1,800 from 1 July 2026 to keep pace with rising wages and ensure meaningful employment. The Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS) will be extended to 2028 and increased to 30% co-funding to help cushion the impact for businesses. The qualifying wage increase for PWCS will be raised from $100 to $200 from 2027 to encourage more meaningful wage increases. The Workfare Skills Support (Basic) will also provide greater financial support, while enhancements to the Workfare Skills Support (Level-up) scheme will make it easier for workers to pursue both full qualifications and shorter courses.

 

17 These measures reflect the Government's commitment to building an empowered workforce and thriving workplaces for all Singaporeans. MOM will continue to work closely with our tripartite partners, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), to keep building a dynamic economy that creates good jobs and better lives for Singaporeans. As Singapore transforms, we will ensure that every worker and business can progress and thrive, and no one will be left behind.