Speech by Senior Minister of State for Manpower at Committee of Supply 2025

Senior Minister of State for Manpower, Zaqy Mohamad, Parliament House

A. Uplifting Lower-Wage Workers

A1. With your permission, Mr Speaker, may I ask the Clerks to distribute a handout detailing our efforts to support lower-wage workers. Members may also access these materials through the MP@SGPARL App.

A2. For many years, tripartism has been the critical success factor to raising the incomes and skills of our lower-wage workers. This helps narrow the gap with the median, and at the same time, keeps it sustainable for businesses.

a. How has Singapore achieved this? Under the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which was introduced in 2014, wage requirements are negotiated by tripartite consensus, among unions, employers and the Government.

b. This results in meaningful wage increases for lower-wage workers. Increases are set at a pace sustainable for employers and mapped out over a period, which gives predictability for contracting and business planning.

c. What does this mean for Singapore’s workers and businesses and why does PWM work? PWM works because we do not just rely on a minimum wage line to boost wages – but we rely on PWMs that boost wages for workers across different sectors and occupations.

d. Negotiated PWMs are impactful because we can optimise wage increments in different sectors, taking into consideration workforce productivity, sectoral growth and business transformation. From a holistic perspective, this means we can maximise the wage growth potential of different sectors, such as security, waste management and others – and help our workers and their wages grow.

e. PWM is not just about wages. It is also about mapping out skills and career pathways. This supports productivity improvements and provides workers with progression prospects.

f. Collectively, PWMs set the pace for wage growth, with LQS shoring up as our last line. We have a progressive and sustainable system – one that works unlike a traditional minimum wage system. PWMs form a network of wage ladders in the ecosystem, leading the way to improve the wage outcomes for our lower-wage workers.

g. Tripartism is therefore our “secret sauce” in providing that balance – that, in doing so, we keep businesses sustainable, so that they can continue to hire workers and can sustain their wage growth over time.

h. We cannot take this balance for granted – nor should we allow politics to take over and start auctioning minimum wage levels.

i. We have seen how this played out in many countries – a blunt minimum wage line determined by politics, or rather, auctioned by politics just to win elections.

j. Some are unsustainable and fail to be implemented.

k. Others are pushed through but industry cannot keep pace. So, businesses just hire fewer workers or reduce their work hours: businesses lose out and workers lose out.

l. Our tripartite partners are keenly aware of these drawbacks.

m. Therefore, for PWM, we negotiate outcomes in the best interest of our people’s livelihoods and a sustainable economy.

n. In fact, why offer our Singapore lower-wage workers the minimum, when they can already benefit from progressive wages today? Minimum versus progressive.

o. Our suite of Progressive Wage measures – the PWM, the LQS and the Progressive Wage Mark accreditation scheme – now benefit up to 9 in 10 lower-wage workers today. 

A3. Mr Melvin Yong asked about the impact of our efforts. I am proud to share that our tripartite efforts have yielded good, tangible outcomes. Lower-wage workers have consistently seen strong wage growth.

a. From 2019 to 2024, real wages at the 20th percentile rose cumulatively by 5.9%, higher than the median worker at 3.6%.

b. If you refer to the lower-wage workers chart, you’ll find a chart of all our lower-wage workers’ wage growth that’s coming up in the coming years, especially in the different sectors.

c. For sectors like security, for example, we have seen fairly good and strong progress. When it started in 2016, the PWM requirement was $1,300. Today, it is $2,870, and by 2028, security officers will have a minimum wage of $3,530. That, I think, shows how progressive PWM is today.

d. It means that although costs of living rose, the wages of lower-wage workers rose even more.

e. The wage gap between lower-wage workers and the median worker is also narrowing, even while median wages continue to rise. 

f. In fact, a big part of this growth took place over the last three years, where tripartite partners agreed to expand PWM to cover three additional sectors and two additional occupations.

g. In DOS’s latest report, income inequality in Singapore, as measured by the Gini coefficient, has declined steadily over the last decade. This bucks the trend compared to many other countries where income wage gaps widening. Here, we are seeing Gini coefficient reduce, and I would like to think that PWM had played a role in this.

h. Household income per member has also risen in real terms for households in the lowest 20% income group.

i. I am hopeful that this will continue in the coming years. This a reflection of tripartite partners’ relentless efforts – our partners from the union, employers, as well as the government – for the unwavering commitment, and I would like to applaud everyone involved for their contributions.

A4. Besides tripartite efforts to drive wage growth, the Government also provides lower-wage workers with additional support through the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme or more typically known as Workfare, and we have enhanced this further.

a. From January 2025, the qualifying monthly income cap for WIS has been increased from $2,500 to $3,000. This ensures that WIS continues to help workers in the bottom 20th income percentiles, with some support for those slightly above.

b. WIS payments have also been increased. The maximum payment has been raised to $4,900 per year – up from $4,200. Those aged 60 and above will benefit from this highest payment tier, as well as all persons with disabilities regardless of age. WIS payments for all other age groups have also been increased.

c. These enhancements to WIS will benefit around half a million lower-wage workers. In fact, in total, WIS payments will increase to $1.4b in 2025.

A5. The Government will continue to work with tripartite partners to help lower-wage workers strengthen their wage and employment outcomes.

a. Mr Melvin Yong would be happy to hear that the tripartite partners are currently studying the expansion of PWM to the Pest Management sector and will provide more details in due course.

b. Above all, as Mr Edward Chia, Mr Fahmi Aliman, and Mr Neil Parekh highlighted, the key to raising wages sustainably over the long term is for both workers and businesses to become more productive.

c. Businesses must transform lower-wage jobs for higher value-add and improve the efficiency of their operations.

d. At the same time, with better jobs created, there will be demands for new skillsets and competencies. Workers will need to upskill to seize these opportunities, and we will step up our efforts to help them do so.

e. Since 2010, the Government has been supporting lower-wage workers in their upskilling journey through the Workfare Skills Support scheme, or WSS.

f. Currently, WSS is targeted at short courses that can be completed over a few days. It covers the opportunity costs of training for lower-wage workers aged 30 and above.

i. For example, those pursuing training on their own initiative receive a training allowance of $6 per hour.

g. However, lower-wage workers stand to benefit more from long-form courses that provide more robust upskilling and reskilling, which are associated with more significant wage increments.

i. The challenge, of course, is that these take longer and the opportunity cost is therefore also higher. 

A6. As announced at Budget, we will enhance WSS by introducing a new tier of support in the form of WSS (Level-Up). This is targeted at helping lower-wage workers who wish to pursue long-form training.

a. Taking reference from the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, WSS (Level-Up) will provide lower-wage workers who pursue long-form training with substantially higher training allowance, to cover the higher opportunity costs.

i. Full-time trainees will receive a monthly allowance set at 50% of their average monthly income based on the latest available 12-month period, with a minimum monthly allowance of $300.

ii. Part-time trainees will receive a fixed monthly allowance of $300.

iii. This will benefit workers aged 30 and above, earning up to $3,000 per month.

iv. Effectively, WSS (Level-Up) trainees will receive up to $18,000 per year for full-time training, and up to $3,600 per year for part-time training. This is more than three times higher than the training allowance currently provided through WSS.

b. We also recognise that workers in lower-wage jobs may need more bouts of long-form training across their career stages – to acquire the necessary skills for more complex job roles, or pivot to new sectors.

i. Hence, WSS (Level-Up) will cover up to 24 months of long-form training done before the age of 40, and another 24 months of long-form training after the age of 40.

c. WSS (Level-Up) will be rolled out from early 2026. I would like to assure Ms Mariam Jafaar and Mr Don Wee that we will work with tripartite partners to raise awareness of WSS (Level-Up) and help lower-wage workers navigate their upskilling journeys. We will provide more details later this year. 

A7. Ms Mariam Jaafar also asked if there are plans to extend WSS to lower-wage workers aged 25 and over.

a. We will keep this suggestion in mind, but at this time, there are no plans to do so, as there are other schemes that younger workers can tap, such as the ITE Progression Award and SkillsFuture Credit.

A8. For lower-wage workers to put their newly acquired skills to good use, businesses must also transform lower-wage jobs for higher value-add and refine their processes for higher productivity. Upskilling is one-half of the equation.

a. There has been encouraging progress on the business front.

b. In the retail and food services sector, businesses are adopting technological solutions such as self-service systems and RFID inventory management. Instead of routine tasks, retail workers can take on more diversified, higher-skilled roles.

c. In outsourced sectors, such as cleaning, security, and waste management, service providers are adopting robots and IoT solutions to reduce reliance on labour-intensive operations. Existing workers can then be retrained and deployed to higher-value roles.

A9. The Government understands that it takes time for workers to upskill and for businesses to transform.

a. In the near-term, businesses are also concerned about manpower costs. I would like to assure Ms Yeo Wan Ling that the Government fully recognises these concerns.

b. We recognise that uplifting our lower-wage workers will lead to some increase in manpower costs.

i. But in a typical business organisation, lower-wage workers account for a relatively modest share of businesses’ overall manpower costs.

ii. They constitute only one-fifth of our resident workforce, and their wages are relatively lower to begin with.

c. Nonetheless, we hear employers’ concerns over the broader cost pressures.

d. As outlined by PM at Budget, we are enhancing PWCS support for businesses. We will raise Government’s co-funding of wage increases given to lower-wage workers – from 30% to 40% in 2025, and from 15% to 20% in 2026.

e. This builds on three earlier rounds of PWCS enhancements. 

f. In fact, since 2022, the Government has co-funded the majority of wage increases given to lower-wage workers – at up to 75% and 50% in previous years.

i. For wage increases given in 2022 and 2023, the Government has already disbursed $2.7 billion of PWCS.

ii. This co-funded wage increases given to more than 520,000 employees by over 90,000 employers.

g. The upcoming PWCS enhancements will continue to provide short-term relief, but I strongly encourage employers to make good use of this to accelerate your transformation, so that we can uplift lower-wage workers sustainably over the long-term.

A10. We have made good progress thus far, but we must press on with our efforts to uplift lower-wage workers. 

a. We must all work together to reduce income inequality, which can cause rifts in our society if left unchecked.

b. The work continues ahead of us. Over the next two years, tripartite partners will be negotiating next-bound wage schedules for PWMs.

i. The Government has laid the groundwork for this through PWCS, which supports business transformation efforts and brings some relief to cost pressures.

ii. We hope that employers and consumers too will play their part in uplifting lower-wage workers.

B. Ensuring Safety in the Workplace
 
B1. As we uplift the livelihood of our workers, we must also safeguard their lives. Our performance for Workplace Safety and Health, or WSH, has improved over the years.

a. Over the past five years, the workplace fatality rate has averaged at 1.1 per 100,000 workers. This places Singapore among the top performing countries, with just four OECD countries consistently performing below 1.0. We achieved this once in 2023.

b. However, the recent increase in workplace fatalities in the second half of 2024 underscores the need for all stakeholders to remain vigilant and prioritise workplace safety.

c. While the WSH performance of sectors such as manufacturing have improved, others can and must do better. We can certainly do much better for construction, which remains the top contributor of workplace accidents. 

B2. Mr Melvin Yong asked for an update on the Safety Accountability, Focus and Empowerment measures, or SAFE for short. 

a. All SAFE measures have been implemented over the past few years. They are a comprehensive set of measures aimed at enhancing collective WSH ownership. Take construction for example.

b. At the sectoral level,

i. We enhanced businesses’ incentive to prioritise safety by disqualifying poor WSH performers from tendering for public sector construction projects. 

ii. Construction worksites with contract value of $5m and above are required to install a Video Surveillance System. This helps contractors to identify WSH hazards, facilitates MOM’s investigations and deters unsafe behaviour.

c. At the company level, Chief Executives and Board Directors in higher-risk sectors, including Construction, must attend the Top Executive WSH Programme to understand their duties and learn how to foster good safety practices in their companies.

d. Beyond safety, we agree with Mr Yong that it is equally important to safeguard the health of our workers.

e. Under the Tripartite Oversight Committee on WSH, more than 136,000 workers have access to the Total WSH Programme. 

f. Moving forward, we will continue to work with industry partners, employers and unions to focus on areas of preventive health and occupational health, in support of national initiatives such as Healthier SG.

B3. WSH is a collective responsibility. Everyone must continue to do our part to build a strong WSH culture.

a. Company Directors must drive home the importance of safety within their organisations. Good WSH is integral to business success. 

b. Workers are responsible for following safe work procedures to protect themselves and others.

c. Unions must advocate for safe, healthy workplaces and working conditions – for example, by developing WSH champions in each union. 

d. The public can report unsafe workplace practices to MOM as each report can save a life.

e. Ms Jean See asked about shared responsibility for workplace safety in the creative industry.

i. Service buyers must play their part by ensuring that their contractors, including freelancers, have the necessary competency to work safely.

ii. Contractors must work safely and not engage in risk-taking behaviour. The WSH Guidelines on Event Management provide practical guidance on health and safety requirements relevant to the creative industry. 

f. Together, we can achieve our WSH 2028 goal of reducing and sustaining the fatal injury rate at below 1.0 per 100,000 workers.

C. Conclusion

C1. Chairman, I started my speech with how Tripartism is Singapore’s “secret sauce” that empowers our lower-wage workers, that in turn, uplifts their families and communities. More than that, this harmonious partnership between our unions, businesses and Government weaves the fabric of a resilient and prosperous Singapore.
 
C2. Let me end my speech with a verse, reflecting the spirit of Tripartism in empowering our workers and in securing success for Singaporeans and Singapore – then, now and for the future. 

Oh, when times get rough
And friends can’t be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water