Committee of Supply 2025 debate, Day 5: Tan See Leng on building a higher-quality work permit workforce and helping businesses transform

The government is removing the maximum employment period for work permit holders and raising their maximum employment age to 63, in line with the local retirement age. This will allow employers to retain experienced workers who are still able to contribute. The list of non-traditional sources for work permit holders will be expanded to three more countries - Laos, Cambodia and Bhutan. The range of occupations that can be filled by workers from non-traditional sources in the manufacturing and services sectors will be also broadened. Meanwhile, a scheme that allows companies contributing to Singapore’s economic priorities to temporarily hire more work permit and S Pass holders will be enhanced. All these changes will help Singapore move towards a higher-quality work permit workforce, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng told parliament on Thursday (Mar 6). He also announced that S$600 million will be set aside to help businesses transform. This is through a new S$400 million Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package, including holistic support for workforce development via a single application channel and enhanced support for job redesign. S$200 million will go towards scaling up the labour movement’s Company Training Committee Grant scheme, which supports training tied to business transformation. In his speech, Dr Tan also addressed the issue of underemployment and spoke about efforts to strengthen the pipeline of local corporate leaders and help older workers stay productive for as long as they wish.