On 1 July 2026, Singapore will increase the retirement age for workers from 63 to 64 and the age at which they can reenter the workforce from 68 to 69.
This means employers must provide eligible employees with reemployment opportunities until age 69, on modified terms if needed. Workers who wish to work longer will enjoy extended statutory protection until age 64.
These modifications have no bearing on the payment and withdrawal ages for CPF.
During Committee of Supply budget debate in Parliament, Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang revealed the timeline. She said that the decision was made in agreement by his ministry, businesses, and unions, the tripartite grouping.
The government announced 2019 that the retirement age would be raised to 65 and the reemployment age to 70 by 2030. The age ceilings for retirement and reemployment were previously changed in 2022.
Longer life expectancies cause growth in retirement and reemployment ages. The shift may also aid in addressing the labor shortage.
In speech to Parliament, Gan mentioned that some businesses might need to modify their plans to hire more people and upskill them to keep their senior employees.
“Over nine in 10 senior workers who were eligible and wished to continue working were offered reemployment in 2023. To ensure that the next increase is implemented just as smoothly, I encourage employers to start planning early,” she said.
Increased ceilings on salary support for Career Conversion Programs
The Ministry of Manpower announced greater wage support caps for Workforce Singapore’s Career Conversion Programs on 1 April, up from S$6,000 to S$7,000 monthly. It is in order to assist mature or long-term unemployed people.
Other workers may receive up to S$5,000 per month in funding instead of the present S$4,000. The funding rates are still set at up to 70% of the workers’ monthly pay for citizens and permanent residents under 40 and 90% for older workers who have been unemployed for a long time.
The Career Conversion Program for current employees in a company would go beyond reskilling for individuals in jobs in danger of redundancy, according to Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng.
“We will support employers who are proactively reskilling existing workers to take on new growth job roles,” he said.
