Singapore extends senior employee grant to 2027 amid ageing workforce
Singapore will lengthen a program that subsidizes part-time work for older staff by the tip of 2027.
The Ministry of Manpower introduced, prolonging a key initiative meant to assist an ageing workforce stay employed on versatile phrases.
The Half-Time Re-employment Grant, often called the PTRG, was set to wind down sooner, however purposes reopened December 2025, giving employers almost two extra years to use for funding.
This system affords {financial} incentives to firms that retain or rent employees aged 60 and above in part-time or redesigned roles, somewhat than requiring full-time schedules or nudging them into retirement.
Below the scheme, employers obtain S$2,500 ($1,893) for every eligible senior employee, capped at $125,000 per firm. The grant may be utilized to employees newly introduced on or present staff moved to part-time preparations with shorter hours or adjusted duties. The Singapore Nationwide Employers Federation administers this system in partnership with the Ministry of Manpower.
Officers say the intention is just not solely to maintain seniors within the workforce but in addition to modernize expectations about work at later phases in life.
“The PTRG helps extra versatile pathways into retirement,” the ministry stated in an announcement. “It ensures that work, for older Singaporeans, may be sustainable and significant.”
The extension comes amid sustained demand for the scheme. Authorities figures present that since 2020, greater than 7,500 employers have tapped the grant and over 65,000 senior employees have benefited. As of November, roughly S$92 million had been disbursed to firms adapting roles or work schedules for older workers.
Economists say the transfer displays broader demographic pressures. With one of many world’s fastest-ageing populations, Singapore faces a shrinking pool of working-age residents and rising healthcare and retirement prices. The federal government has responded with insurance policies designed to boost labor drive participation amongst older adults and facilitate later-life employment.
The PTRG types half of a bigger suite of measures. The Senior Employment Credit score affords wage offsets of as much as 7% for firms using employees aged 60 and above.
The Abilities Future Stage-Up Programme offers mid-career coaching subsidies for employees 40 and older, and a Profession Conversion Programme run by Workforce Singapore funds retraining for mature staff coming into new industries.
In July 2025, the federal government convened the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment, bringing collectively unions, enterprise {groups} and companies to encourage age-friendly job design. A associated Alliance for Motion, involving 32 organizations, is exploring pilot applications in coaching, teaching and workload restructuring.
Extending the grant, officers say, offers firms time to regulate. For older employees, advocates argue, it affords one thing rarer: choices. As a substitute of a set retirement date, this system encourages a gradual transition, extra alternative in hours, a continued paycheck and an extended runway to exit the workforce on their very own phrases.
The transfer to help older employees comes as Singapore prepares to implement stricter immigration guidelines for everlasting residents (PRs), including new layers of accountability for these residing or working overseas.
Beginning December 1, 2025, PRs can have 180 days to resume their re-entry permits, the doc that enables them to return to Singapore or danger dropping their residency standing totally.