Plans unveiled to help older workers stay employed
Singapore
A SLEW of measures were unveiled on Tuesday to give a boost to jobs for mid-career and older workers who find themselves left insecure by corporate restructuring and technological disruptions.
The measures run the gamut of expanded capacity for reskilling, incentives for hiring, credit top-ups as well as wage and Central Provident Fund (CPF) "transition" offsets to help older workers upgrade and to lighten employers' costs of keeping them working longer.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat even set the target of doubling the annual job placement for Singaporeans in their 40s and 50s - the mid-career workers - to around 5,500 by 2025.
"We will introduce a new SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package for locals in their 40s and 50s, to help them stay employable and move to new jobs or new roles," he said.
While many mid-career workers have picked up news skills or switched careers to adapt to the change in the nature of jobs brought about by restructuring and technological changes, Mr Heng said some have been left behind and are facing greater competition from young and foreign workers. "I understand their anxiety," he said.
The government will expand the capacity of reskilling programmes, including the Professional Conversion Programme under the Adapt and Grow initiative and career transition programmes offered by Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres, he said.
Employers will be given incentives to recruit, retain and retrain mid-career workers through a reskilling programme that provides 20 per cent salary support for six months, capped at S$6,000 in total.
To get the most out of this, the government will at the same time streamline its manpower schemes, including support for hiring and retention, Mr Heng said.
To improve access to reskilling programmes, a special SkillsFuture Credit top-up of S$500 will be given to every Singaporean aged 40 to 60 this year. The top-up, which expires in about five years, can be used for selected reskilling programmes at CET Centres.
Mr Heng said the government will gather volunteers from professional communities to serve as career advisors to guide local workers in navigating professional pathways.
A Senior Worker Support Package was also unveiled to help those beyond their 50s who want to continue working and staying active. With this package, he said, the Special Employment Credit (SEC) and Additional SEC, which have strongly supported enterprises that employ seniors, would be "refashioned" into a Senior Employment Credit to provide employers wage offsets when they hire Singaporean workers aged 55 and above.
The support levels provided by the Senior Employment Credit, which takes effect from 2021, will taper off over time as retirement and re-employment ages are gradually raised.
The Senior Worker Support Package will further provide employers a CPF Transition Offset when the CPF contribution rates go up in 2021. The offset will cover half the increase in employer contributions.
Employers who raise the retirement and re-employment ages ahead of the legislated changes will get support from the new Senior Worker Early Adopter Grant. The Part-Time Re-employment Grant will dish out support to firms which formalise part-time provisions.
"Even as we support workers' aspirations to work longer, we hear employers' concerns," Mr Heng said. "As part of our unique tripartite system, the government has stepped up to support both our workers and our enterprises."
Welcoming the Senior Worker Support Package, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) noted that the government has heeded its proposals "to provide support measures for employers to sustain the employment of older workers".
"The federation is delighted that the government had heard the employers' feedback," SNEF told The Business Times. "The early announcement of the support package will help employers to be ready by July 2022, when the retirement and remployment ages are raised."
Chia Hock Lai, president of the Singapore FinTech Association, said the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package "will definitely" boost the morale of those in the 40s and 50s and, in the long run, "keep Singaporeans employable and relevant to the changing workforce".
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