Several years ago, Singapore confirmed its plans to gradually increase the retirement and re-employment age of its workers in order to combat the issues and challenges of an aging workforce. That plan now seems to be in motion as the nation seeks to increase the retirement age from 62 to 63 by July 2022. This is still in line with previous plans to raise the retirement age to 65 and the re-employment age to 70 by 2030.
The news comes from Minister of Manpower Tan See Leng, during a recent parliament meeting. With the new retirement age, employers will also be required to offer to re-employ workers as old as 68 in the same organization, up from 67.
As previously mentioned, plans to increase the retirement age go as far back as 2019, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stating the importance of allowing older Singaporeans to work longer. Now, with the talent pool and workforce continuing to shrink, the nation will have to rely more on its veteran workers to help fuel business growth.
Just like with many advanced economies around the world, Singapore is facing a population crisis where life expectancy is increasing but fertility rates remain low. With the elderly population rapidly growing, the government has put out a notice stating that one in five residents are forecast to be above 65 by the end of the decade. Government statistics have also pointed out that the elderly age group has also doubled over the past two decades, as of 2021.
For the most part, increasing the retirement age will alleviate some of the issues being faced by the nation’s workforce for the time being. However, this does not solve the core problem, and new solutions must be found to tackle higher social expenditure.
For now, plans for the continued increase in retirement age will proceed, with the timing for the adjustments depending on the economic climate and situation.
