More employees in Singapore support raising of retirement age

To support more employees staying longer in the workforce, Singapore is looking to create a more inclusive workplace culture to support all employees.
By: | September 26, 2023
Topics: DE&I | Employee Experience | News | Singapore | Talent Management

Older Singaporeans have expressed clear support for increasing both the retirement and re-employment ages with 87.9% of them favouring a retirement age of 63 years or higher.

Additionally, among the 1,471 working individuals aged 50 and above surveyed by the PAP Seniors Group (PAPSG) and the National Trades Union Congress U Women and Family, 80% of them supported an official re-employment age of 68 and above.

The survey also shed light on the challenges faced by older employees, including negative employer attitudes, age discrimination, inflexible working arrangements, long working hours, and a scarcity of suitable job opportunities.

Dr Tan See Leng, Singapore’s Minister of Manpower who also serves as the Chairman of PAPSG, outlined his vision for a more inclusive workplace culture and stressed the importance of creating a culture of the 3Rs—Respect, Regard, and Recognition—towards the older generation and called for collaboration between senior and younger Singaporeans to champion elderly causes and ensure fairness for all employees regardless of age.

To address age discrimination in the workplace, Dr Tan announced that forthcoming workplace fairness legislation would provide strong protection, including safeguards against age discrimination. He noted that with Singapore’s ageing workforce, there was a growing imperative to ensure fairness and equal opportunities for all employees.

READ MORE: Singapore champions mediation to promote fairness in the workplace

Dr Tan also revealed the government’s plan to progressively raise the retirement and re-employment ages to 65 and 70, respectively, by 2030. The initial increase, to 63 and 68, respectively, took effect in 2022. Dr Tan assured that as the government continued supporting employers in their transition to hiring an ageing workforce, contribution rates to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) for senior employees aged 55 to 70 would be gradually raised to help them save more for retirement, reported The Straits Times.