SINGAPORE, Oct 26 — Singapore will raise retirement age to 65 and re-employment age to 70 from Jan 1, 2029, a year ahead of the 2030 timeline, as part of six recommendations to help seniors remain in the workforce longer.

Announced today by the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment (TWG-SE), the recommendations aim to help more seniors remain in meaningful, sustainable employment, while promoting age-diverse, multi-generational workplaces. 

This comes amid an ageing workforce, with the proportion of Singapore's resident labour force aged 50 and above rising from 34 per cent to 40 per cent over the past decade, according to the Ministry of Manpower. 

Speaking at the launch conference today, Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash said employers should adapt jobs and workplaces to give older workers more options to remain in the workforce.

"We hope for our seniors to also upskill themselves to be able to deal with jobs and look at careers as a multi-staged perspective," said Dinesh, adding that creating age-inclusive workplaces would benefit both employers and workers.

"Ultimately, we want to create age inclusive workplaces in Singapore where we are able to then extract the maximum we can for our business and at the same time to support our workers.”

The event was also attended by NTUC deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan, and other guests, who were invited to a walkthrough of the digital booths and NTUC's e2i career pulse workshop.

To expand flexible employment opportunities for older workers, the workgroup recommended introducing a new Flexi-Load Programme (FLP) to help employers create and expand part-time and fractional roles.

The programme will help employers defray the transitional costs of introducing such arrangements, including redesigning jobs, systems and policies traditionally structured around full-time work.

The FLP will also replace the existing part-time re-employment grant when it expires at the end of 2027.

While the current grant is available only to employees aged 60 and above, the FLP will be open to those aged 50 and above.

The workgroup also proposed setting up a programme office for career longevity under the skills and workforce development agency, in collaboration with NTUC and Singapore National Employers Federation, to support career transitions and promote age-inclusive hiring practices.

Greater financial support and tax relief

To provide greater financial support to seniors who are unable to secure re-employment, the workgroup also recommended raising the minimum and maximum employment assistance payment amounts.

The revised amounts will take into account wage growth since the last update in 2022, helping affected workers manage their expenses while seeking new employment opportunities.

Additionally, it also proposed enhancing earned income relief for seniors working beyond the statutory retirement and re-employment ages to reduce their tax burden, boost take-home pay. 

Separately, a new re-employment credit will replace the senior employment credit when it expires from 2028 to provide wage support to employers who retain older workers, helping to offset employment costs. 

Uplifting lower-wage seniors 

The last recommendation focuses on improving wages and retirement adequacy for lower-wage seniors through enhancements to the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) and updates to the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS).

Enhancements to WIS will help improve the wages and retirement savings of lower-wage senior workers, while updates to PWCS will provide employers with greater support to raise wages sustainably.

The TWG-SE was convened in July 2025 to review and refresh Singapore's senior employment strategy and has since consulted more than 1,000 stakeholders. 

The workgroup also drew on insights from pilot initiatives by 30 organisations in training, career guidance and flexible work arrangements, which have benefited more than 1,600 senior workers. — AsiaOne