Retirement and re-employment ages to be raised to 64 and 69 in 2026

SINGAPORE: From 2026, employees can only be asked to retire when they turn 64 years old as the retirement age in Singapore rises by one year.

This is part of a move to progressively increase the retirement age in Singapore to 65 by the year 2030.

The re-employment age will also be raised to 69 in 2026, Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang said in parliament on Monday (Mar 4).

That means employers must offer employees re-employment until they reach 69 years old. By 2030, the re-employment age will be increased to 70.

Singapore citizens and permanent residents who have satisfactory work performance and are medically fit to continue working are eligible for re-employment.

For employees who only joined the company after turning 55, they must also have served their current employer for at least two years before reaching the retirement age to be eligible.

The re-employment contract should be for at least one year, and be renewable every year.

The planned increase in retirement and re-employment ages was announced in 2019, when employees could be asked to retire at the age of 62. The first increase took place in July 2022.

“Over nine in 10 senior workers who were eligible and wished to continue working were offered re-employment in 2023. To ensure that the next increase is implemented just as smoothly, I encourage employers to start planning early,” Ms Gan said.

Some companies may need to adjust their manpower and upskilling plans to retain senior workers, she added.

“This is why we are taking a stepped approach and announcing the increase early.”

CPF withdrawal and payout ages are not affected by these changes.

MOM said the increase in retirement and re-employment ages is due to longer life expectancy. The change can also help to address the lack of manpower.

CAREER CONVERSION PROGRAMME

MOM also announced increased salary support caps for Workforce Singapore’s Career Conversion Programmes from Apr 1.

For mature or long-term unemployed workers, the cap will be raised to S$7,500 (US$5,600) a month, up from S$6,000. Funding for other workers can go up to S$5,000 a month, compared with S$4,000 currently.

The funding rates remain at up to 70 per cent of the worker’s monthly salary for citizens and permanent residents below the age of 40, and 90 per cent for the mature and long-term unemployed workers.

Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng also said the Career Conversion Programme for existing workers in a company will be expanded beyond reskilling for those in jobs at risk of redundancy.

“Going forward, we will support employers who are proactively reskilling existing workers to take on new growth job roles,” he said.

He urged employers to reach out to Workforce Singapore to see how the programme can help them meet their talent needs.