Written Answer by Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Acting Minister for Manpower & Senior Minister of State, National Development, to Parliamentary Question on Bringing Back the Economically Inactives Back into the Workforce

1. My Ministry aims to ensure that all Singaporeans who wish to work have opportunities to do so. We do not set targets, but instead strive to reduce the barriers that individuals may face when they want to enter the workforce. This includes facilitating the entry of economically inactive persons, such as women and mothers who have dropped out of the workforce for various reasons such as family responsibilities. As at June 2011, there were about 95,000 economically inactive resident females who intended to look for a job within the next two years.
2. Helping economically inactive Singaporeans re-enter the workforce not only enables companies to address their manpower challenges, but also helps individuals and families achieve better income security. Thus, it is important that our efforts reach out to as many people as possible.
3. Economically inactive individuals often cite family responsibilities as a key reason for staying out of the workforce. We encourage companies to implement good workplace practices, to help this group of individuals to balance family and work commitments. For instance, the Work-Life Works! (WoW!) Fund supports employers in implementing flexible work arrangements, while the Flexi-Works! scheme provides incentives for companies to recruit economically inactive individuals. Through these schemes, we aim to build up an ecosystem of supportive employers, as well as employers’ capabilities in managing the work-life needs of their workers.
4. To encourage older low-wage workers to find work and stay in work, as well as to help them save for their longer-term needs, the Government supplements their income through the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme and encourages them to continuously up-skill through the Workfare Training Support (WTS) scheme.
5. Training and upgrading is a must for everyone to keep up with the rapid economic changes in order to remain employable and relevant, or move to better jobs. In particular, individuals who have been out of the workforce for some time may not be job ready. There is generous funding available for individuals to upgrade themselves so that they can acquire the requisite skills to find a job more easily. Those who need assistance to overcome their work and training barriers can also sign up for programmes run by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), such as the Workfare - Skill Up Programme.
6. We will continue to work closely with our tripartite partners to help companies put in place measures that reduce barriers to re-entering the workforce and expand employment opportunities for all Singaporeans.