Speech by Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang at Committee of Supply 2025
Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang, Parliament House
A. Preamble
A1. Much has been said about our workforce and workplaces transforming. What remains unchanged is our commitment to ensuring that every member of society, including vulnerable groups, can participate fully in the workforce and achieve their aspirations.
B. Supporting the employment of vulnerable groups
Support for Persons with Disabilities
B1. Allow me to first share how we are enhancing support for persons with disabilities.
a. To foster inclusive workplaces for persons with disabilities, we are working on a Tripartite Advisory for Reasonable Accommodations. Our objective is to raise awareness and shape mindsets around the concept of reasonable accommodations in the workplace, guiding employers and employees to discuss accommodations that will suit their specific work context and needs. This will support persons with disabilities in employment, giving them the chance to thrive in the workplace.
b. The Government also encourages the hiring and training of persons with disabilities through SG Enable’s Open Door Programme, which provides grants and employment support services to organizations that hire persons with disabilities. Each year, about 630 persons with disabilities are successfully placed into jobs through this programme, and more than 80% of them remain in employment for at least six months.
B2. To further facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities, MOM will extend the Enabling Employment Credit, or EEC, for three years, until 2028.
B3. Under EEC, eligible employers of persons with disabilities receive a wage offset of up to $400 per month. This goes up to $800 per month, for the first nine months of employment if the new hire was previously not working for at least six months.
B4. Mr Sharael Taha and other Members would be glad to hear that since its introduction in 2021, the EEC has contributed to the steady increase in the employment rate of persons with disabilities, which rose from 28% to 34% over the past five years.
B5. One individual that has benefited from the EEC is Emily. Despite the challenges she faces due to her intellectual disability, Emily has been keen to work and persevered through her job search.
a. After completing training at the Centre for Inclusive Employment at the Enabling Business Hub @ Jurong, her job coach matched her to a job in packing and order fulfilment with Zyfas Pharma Pte Ltd Singapore, a pharmaceutical products wholesaler.
b. With support from her job coach and supervisor, Emily is doing well in her job and has been converted to permanent employment since January 2025.
c. Besides attaining greater financial independence, Emily’s new role has enabled her to become more confident through greater participation in the community.
B6. We also want to support persons with disabilities to save more for their retirement needs.
B7. Today, under the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, or MRSS, the Government provides a dollar-for-dollar matching grant to encourage CPF top-ups for eligible Singaporean seniors from age 55.
B8. As announced by the Prime Minister, the MRSS will be expanded to include eligible Singaporeans with disabilities of all ages from 1 Jan 2026. This will help individuals like Emily to accumulate their retirement savings earlier. They will be able to benefit from the compounding effect of CPF interest over a longer runway.
a. For example, a 25-year-old person with disability who receives a top-up of $2,000 every year up to the lifetime cap of $20,000 will receive about $110,000 more just in CPF interest alone by age 65, as compared to an individual who receives top-ups from 55 years old.
B9. We hope such efforts will help persons with disabilities build up their nest eggs early so that they can approach retirement with a greater sense of security.
Support for Ex-Offenders
B10. Let me move on to how we are strengthening employment support for ex-offenders.
B11. For ex-offenders looking to rejoin the workforce, the idea of reintegration can feel daunting at times. However, they are not alone in this journey.
a. WSG partners with Yellow Ribbon Singapore, or YRSG, which provides employment assistance and post-placement support to inmates and ex-offenders.
B12. These initiatives are further supported by the Uplifting Employment Credit or UEC – which provides wage offsets to employers that hire ex-offenders.
a. In 2024, the UEC supported the employment of more than 1,500 ex-offenders hired by about 700 employers.
B13. Building on the positive responses, MOM will be extending the UEC for three years, until 2028.
B14. Under UEC, eligible employers can receive a wage offset of up to $600 per month for the first nine months of employment, amounting up to $5,400 for each new ex-offender hired.
B15. One such individual that has benefitted is John (not his real name), who secured employment with a communication services company in 2023.
a. As an associate engineer, John provided backend support for customer accounts that were assigned to him. Over time, his duties expanded to include tasks like data analytics work.
b. Today, John’s company continues to support his professional development by enrolling him in upskilling courses.
c. For John, the reintegration process has been challenging but rewarding. Reflecting on his journey, he shared: "The hardest part of reintegration was believing in myself again. I am grateful to the company for hiring me and trusting my ability to value add to the organisation. This job has been crucial in rebuilding that self-confidence".
d. As John continues to grow in his role, his success story is helping to reshape perceptions of ex-offenders, paving the way for more inclusive hiring practices in Singapore.
C. Supporting women and caregivers
C1. Next, I will share more on our efforts to support the employment of women and caregivers.
C2. Many women shoulder the caregiving responsibilities for their children, elderly parents or family members with disabilities.
a. Some caregivers have had to take a break from their careers to care for their family members full-time.
b.While others are able to continue working, they deal with challenges like burnout as they try their best to balance the demands from work and family.
C3. Whether at work or at home, we want women and caregivers to feel supported in managing their roles and be empowered to pursue their career aspirations.
C4. Women in Singapore have made progress – the employment rate for women aged 25 to 64 increased from 73.3% in 2019 to 78.3% in 2024. This means more women who wish to remain in work or return to work have found the opportunities to do so.
C5. However, as Mr Desmond Choo, Ms Yeo Wan Ling and Ms Rachel Ong have pointed out, there is room to do more, and we agree.
C6. Mr Mark Lee suggested better support for training of part-time workers. We are enhancing the Career Conversion Programmes, or CCPs, to support reskilling of mid-career new hires and employees on jobs with flexi-load arrangements.
C7. WSG’s CCPs provide employers with salary support when they reskill mid-career new hires or existing employees into growth job roles identified under the Industry Transformation Maps or Jobs Transformation Maps. These roles span approximately 30 sectors, including financial services, retail, built environment, and information and communications.
C8. The CCPs currently cover only full-time jobs. However, from 1 Apr 2025, we will enhance CCPs to support reskilling of mid-career new hires and employees in jobs with flexi-load arrangements such as part-time work. To qualify, they must be reskilled into growth job roles and be employed on permanent terms or contract terms of at least one year.
a. For instance, a cybersecurity company looking to hire a part-time employee can now tap on the CCPs to hire and reskill a mid-career worker from another sector. During the training period, WSG will fund up to 90% of the worker's salary, capped at $7,500 per month.
C9. Besides making part-time work more viable, we are building on our efforts to foster family-friendly workplaces so that workers can give their best at work and at home. Mr Louis Ng has called for parent care leave to support caregivers of elderly parents. We are open to ideas on how to better support caregivers, including those who wish to work. When considering additional leave, we must be mindful to balance caregivers’ needs with the potential impact on businesses. Working caregivers have also highlighted that flexible work arrangements (or FWAs) are a more sustainable way to manage work and caregiving responsibilities, which is something we have made progress on.
C10. As Mr Sharael Taha pointed out, building inclusive workplaces requires a shift in workplace culture and norms. The Tripartite Guidelines on FWA Requests launched in April last year aim to facilitate this.
C11. Mr Edward Chia would be glad to hear that we are working closely with trade associations and chambers, as well as our community partners, to raise awareness of the Guidelines and help both employers and employees understand how the Guidelines can help them.
a. Some partners have even gone further to develop resources to support their members in adhering to the Guidelines and implementing FWAs. For instance, the Singapore Business Federation, or SBF, has helped raise awareness on the Guidelines through briefing sessions, and these have reached more than 650 companies.
C12. Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked for an update on the outcomes of the Guidelines. As the Guidelines have only been in effect for three months, it will take some time to observe its impact on workplace norms and culture. However, I am happy to see that the Guidelines have prompted more open conversations about FWAs in the workplace.
C13. One such employer is Sheng Siong Supermarket. As an employer in the manpower-tight retail sector, Sheng Siong is leveraging FWAs as part of its strategy to retain employees. The company recently introduced staggered working hours for their office employees, as well as options for alternative work schedules for those in frontline operations.
a. For example, instead of a standard 6-day work week, frontline employees may request for a 5-day, 4-day or even 3-day work week, with commensurate adjustments in the salary.
b. With a formal FWA policy in place, Sheng Siong is able to observe trends in their employees’ needs, which helps the company identify ways to better support their employees.
C14. I am heartened that the proportion of firms offering FWAs increased in the last year from 68.1% in 2023 to 72.7% in 2024. Firms such as Sheng Siong are continuing to explore how they can leverage FWAs to better attract and retain talent.
C15. On supporting women to take up leadership roles, Mr Desmond Choo suggested mandating that 40% of company boards comprise of women. While this approach can increase the representation of women on company boards straight away, it does not necessarily mean active or equal participation by the appointed board members or ensure that diverse perspectives will be harnessed. The approach of setting a quota when not enough women are ready for the role also risks reducing the credibility of women on company boards over time.
a. Instead, Singapore has put in place voluntary targets to accelerate the representation of women on boards, and we have seen good progress.
b. Through the Council for Board Diversity’s efforts to shift mindsets of boards towards appointing more diverse candidates, as of end December 2024, the percentage of women on boards of top 100 SGX-listed companies reached 25.1%, which is a more than three-fold increase from 7.5% in 2014.
D. Fostering fairness in the workplace
D1. To build inclusive workplaces, we have taken steps to strengthen fair and merit-based employment practices. The Workplace Fairness Bill, which was passed earlier this year, will provide an additional layer of protection against workplace discrimination.
D2. Mr Louis Ng suggested clarifying on TAFEP’s website that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is covered under the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, or TGFEP. To reiterate, the Government does not tolerate any form of workplace discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
a. The TGFEP covers all forms of workplace discrimination and the listing on the website is not meant to be exhaustive. Highlighting selected characteristics or scenarios may not achieve this broader intent and may give the impression that characteristics or scenarios which are not mentioned are not covered.
b. I would like to reassure the Member that we will continue to collaborate with community groups to raise awareness on the TGFEP, and refer any individual that faces workplace discrimination to TAFEP for advice and assistance.
E. Supporting workers’ well-being in the workplace
E1. On supporting the well-being of workers in the workplace, I would like to thank all who have raised suggestions. Ms Hazel Poa suggested increasing the number of public holidays by three days for Hari Raya, Thaipusam and Chinese New Year. A/P Jamus Lim asked for the inclusion of Thaipusam as a public holiday, echoing similar requests by other members such as Mr Gan Thiam Poh in the past.
E2. The current configuration of Public Holidays in Singapore is the outcome of careful deliberations and consultations with various religious groups at the point of Singapore’s independence.
E3. Over the years, we have learnt to live harmoniously as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, with everyone making some compromises for the greater good. We encourage employers to make it possible for Singaporeans of all faiths to observe their respective religious festivals. Maintaining the current balance has served us well, and it continues to be the sensible approach for Singapore.
E4. Ms Yeo Wan Ling, Mr Edward Chia, and Ms Rachel Ong asked how we can continue to promote mental wellness in our workplaces, especially amongst SMEs that may not have built up dedicated infrastructure to support such initiatives.
E5. To equip companies, especially SMEs, with the resources and know-how, the tripartite partners have rolled out various initiatives.
a. A key initiative is the Tripartite Advisory on Mental Well-Being at Workplaces introduced in 2020. It provides practical guidance on measures that employers can adopt, such as tapping on Employee Assistance Programme to offer counselling support for employees.
b. Beyond the consultations and workshops offered by the Total Workplace Safety and Health Programme, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) has also funded various courses relating to mental wellness for self, peers and employees. Training Providers for such courses are able to contextualise the content to suit the needs of organisations, including SMEs.
c. Further support is also available through the Well-being Champions Network, and National Council of Social Service’s Peer Support Specialist Programme, which offer additional resources and training for workplace mental well-being.
F. Mandarin Section
F1.Mr Chairman, I will now say a few words in Mandarin.
F2.为了鼓励雇主给残疾人士和释囚就业机会，人力部将把“残障人士雇用补贴” (Enabling Employment Credit) 和“更生就业补贴” (Uplifting Employment Credit) 延长至 2028 年。
a. 通过 “残障人士雇用补贴”，符合资格的雇主若聘请残障人士，将能获得每月高达$400的雇用补贴。如果新聘请的残障员工在之前的六个月没有工作，这补贴金额将提高至$800，长达首九个月的聘用期。
b. 在“更生就业补贴”计划下，聘请释囚的雇主将能在首九个月的雇用期中，获得每月多达$600的补贴。
F3.我们也会从 2026 年起扩大退休户头配对填补计划 (Matched Retirement Savings Scheme) 的范围.符合条件的残障人士无论年龄多大都能受惠。这将帮助他们更早开始累积退休储蓄，享有公积金复利的好处。
G. Concluding Remarks
G1. With your permission, Mr Chairman, may I ask the Clerk to distribute an infographic that summarises the support schemes available at different life stages. As Minister Tan See Leng shared yesterday, the Government is committed to supporting every Singaporean in your career journey, at every life stage and with greater support for those in need.
G2. While the Government has a role to play in empowering our people, we also recognise that true transformation requires the support and action of those at the heart of our economy – our businesses, workers, tripartite partners, and community partners. For that, I thank all those who have worked closely with us thus far.Together, we can break down barriers, challenge stereotypes and continue to build an inclusive society where everyone has the opportunity to contribute meaningfully and play a role in our shared progress.