Raising of retirement and re-employment ages bumped forward to 2029, with more flexible jobs for older workers

Singapore

The raising of the retirement and re-employment ages will be brought forward to 2029 as assurance that seniors can keep working if they wish to, said tripartite partners.

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26 Oct 2026 01:30PM

SINGAPORE: More support for flexible jobs and higher tax relief for working seniors were among several tripartite measures announced on Monday (Oct 26) to encourage older workers to keep working if they want to, and employers to hire or retain them.

The statutory retirement and re-employment ages will rise from 64 and 69 currently to 65 and 70 from 2029 – a year ahead of the previous timeline of 2030.

It will mean that employers cannot dismiss employees on the grounds of age before they turn 65, and must offer re-employment to eligible employees until they are 70.

“This sends a clear signal that seniors who wish to continue working longer would have the opportunity to do so,” Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash said at the launch of the tripartite report.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) said in a press release that the change gives senior workers greater assurance that they can continue working if they wish to.

Other measures include extending wage support for employers who re-employ seniors, raising support for lower-wage senior workers and increasing financial assistance for those who are not re-employed.

These recommendations by the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment have been fully accepted by the government, with details on implementation to follow in the first half of 2027.

Mr Dinesh said: “Senior employment should not simply mean doing the same job for more years. It should mean having meaningful options across a longer career span, and leveraging senior workers for business success.”

NTUC deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan said that senior workers should have “genuine options” in how they continue contributing, from full-time jobs to flexible arrangements.

Senior workers also need assurance that they will not have to navigate career transitions alone, as well as fair access to training and opportunities, he said.

SNEF vice-president Tan Hwee Bin said investing in older employees is becoming a “business necessity” amid a tight labour market and slowing workforce growth.

“We need a mindset shift in how we build our workforce, recognising that full-time and part-time employees can play complementary roles,” she said.

“By redesigning jobs and offering more flexible arrangements, employers can retain valuable experience and build more resilient multi-generational teams.”

Singapore’s labour force is ageing in tandem with the general population. Workers aged 50 and above made up about 40 per cent of the labour force in 2025, up from around 34 per cent in 2015.

“Population ageing is expected to further increase the share of seniors in the labour force. By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above,” the workgroup said in its report.

It noted that labour force participation drops sharply among residents in their late 50s and older.

According to government surveys, caregiving responsibilities are the top reason workers in their 50s are not working or looking for work, while flexible work arrangements are the top initiative that could keep them in the workforce.

FLEXI-LOAD PROGRAMME

A new Flexi-Load Programme will help employers create and scale up jobs with flexible workloads, such as part-time or fractional work, for older workers.

It will replace the existing Part-time Re-employment Grant, which ends after 2027. The grant gives employers S$2,500 for each resident senior worker offered part-time re-employment, other flexible work arrangements and structured career planning, capped at S$125,000 for each company.

The grant covers workers aged 60 and above, and funds employers based on changes to their human resource policies. Since 2020, it has supported about 68,500 seniors and about 7,800 employers.

The new Flexi-Load Programme will cover workers aged 50 and above, and require employers to “demonstrate the outcome of creating additional flexi-load roles”, said the workgroup.

This will be accompanied by a new programme office for career longevity, led by the Skills and Workforce Development Agency. It aims to help workers plan their career and skills transitions more proactively, and support employers to adopt structured career planning and implement flexible workload arrangements.

It will draw on flexible workload models developed through the Alliance for Action on Empowering Multi-Stage Careers for Mature Workers, including job redesign and matching workers with project-based opportunities.

These efforts form part of a wider ecosystem that includes stronger human capital capabilities, SkillsFuture support and career conversion programmes, Tripartite Jobs Council support for workers impacted by artificial intelligence-related changes, and the Workplace Fairness Act against age discrimination, said the workgroup.

The SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme will also be reviewed for senior workers navigating job transitions.

RE-EMPLOYMENT AGE, ASSISTANCE AND TAX RELIEF

Singapore’s approach to retirement has achieved consistently high re-employment outcomes, the workgroup said, with more than nine in 10 eligible employees who wish to continue working offered re-employment.

Employers who cannot offer re-employment must give affected workers a one-off Employment Assistance Payment while they look for other work.

The government will raise the recommended amount for this payment to reflect wage growth in recent years. It is currently three-and-a-half months’ salary, with a minimum of S$6,250 and a maximum of S$14,750.

The government will also enhance the Earned Income Relief for workers employed past the retirement and re-employment ages. Workers aged 55 and above can already claim up to S$8,000 in relief depending on their age.

RE-EMPLOYMENT CREDIT AND WAGE SUPPORT

A new Re-employment Credit will be introduced from 2028 to defray employers’ business costs associated with retaining senior workers.

It will replace the Senior Employment Credit, which provides up to 7 per cent in wage offsets for employers who hire Singaporeans aged 60 and older and who earn less than S$4,000 a month.

The wage ceiling for the new credit scheme will be higher to account for wage growth.

The tripartite workgroup also recommended improving wage support for lower-wage senior workers in particular. This will be done by enhancing the Workfare Income Supplement, which is paid to lower-wage workers in cash and Central Provident Fund payments.

The Progressive Wage Credit Scheme will also be updated. It co-funds employers’ wage increases required under the Progressive Wage Model and local qualifying salary requirements, as well as voluntary pay rises for lower-wage workers.

BALANCE BETWEEN SENIORS AND FRESH GRADUATES

During a panel discussion, the workgroup co-chairs were asked how a balance will be struck between two segments of jobseekers – fresh graduates and seniors.

Mr Dinesh said these two groups should not be seen as competing for the same jobs, pointing out that the bulk of senior workers are lower-wage workers.

Junior hires have a runway to competence before they add value to an organisation, and getting senior workers to guide and mentor them could be a complementary effort in succession planning, he said.

MOM is looking at what can be done to strengthen such mentorships, he added.

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Source: CNA/dv(cy)