Ministry of Manpower COS Highlights 2024

• Increase salary support cap for Workforce Singapore’s Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs) to support employers in reskilling new hires and existing workers for new jobs
• Expand the job roles eligible for CCP’s reskilling support, by supporting employers who proactively identify and reskill existing workers to take on growth job roles
• Enhance CareersFinder to enable greater recognition of and reward for skills in hiring and career advancement
• Launch Overseas Markets Immersion Programme, which supports companies in sending new mid-career hires or employees with limited overseas market experience to reskill during overseas postings. Employees will undergo structured on-the-job and in-market training in global roles offering good prospects

For more information, read our factsheet on Career Conversion Programmes and CareersFinder

• Revise Employment Pass (EP) qualifying salary to maintain quality bar of EP holders
• Reduce Dependency Ratio Ceiling and increase the Work Permit levies in the Marine shipyard sector to support the sector’s shift towards more productive activities, in line with our long-term objective to achieve a more manpower-lean foreign workforce

For more information, read our factsheet on foreign workforce policy announcements and updates

• Introduce $8.2 billion Majulah Package to benefit 1.6 million Singaporeans born in 1973 or earlier
• Extend the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme to seniors above 70 years old and increase the dollar-for-dollar matching on cash top-ups
• Increase the quarterly payments for Silver Support Scheme by 20% and raise qualifying household monthly income per person threshold, to support seniors who have less for retirement
• Continue to raise senior workers’ CPF contribution rates, to help them save more for retirement

For more information, read our infographic on strengthening retirement adequacy

• Raise the Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) from three times to four times of the Basic Retirement Sum to support CPF members who wish to receive higher payouts in retirement
• Rationalise the CPF system by closing the Special Account for CPF members aged 55 and above from 2025. This ensures that only savings committed for long-term retirement needs earn the higher long-term interest rate
• CPF members can choose to top up their Retirement Account at any time up to the ERS, to earn higher long-term interest rates and receive higher retirement payouts

For more information, read our infographic on strengthening retirement adequacy

• Raise the Local Qualifying Salary to keep pace with wage growth, to continue to uplift lower-wage workers and maintain foreign workforce controls
• Increase the qualifying monthly income cap for both Workfare Income Supplement Scheme (WIS) and Workfare Skills Support (WSS) and raise WIS payments
• Enhance the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS) to strengthen support for employers in increasing wages of lower-wage workers, through increased Government co-funding support for 2024 and higher wage ceiling for 2025-2026

For more information, read our infographic on enhancements to measures for lower-wage workers

• Raise the retirement age to 64 and re-employment age to 69 in 2026 to support seniors who wish to work longer

• Introduce the Guidelines by 2024 to outline the process for employees to request flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and provide guidance to employers for effective implementation
• Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices and Institute for Human Resource Professionals will enhance training and resources for supervisors and HR practitioners to implement FWAs effectively and redesign jobs to accommodate FWAs

• Workforce Singapore (WSG) will continue to provide a suite of programmes to support returning caregivers, such as career matching services and reskilling support
• Continue to support employment of persons with disabilities, including through the Enabling Employment Credit to provide wage support for their employers