Singapore Brings Retirement Age 65 Forward to 2029, With New Support for Flexible Work

Longer employment protection, with more ways to keep working

Singapore will raise its retirement age to 65 and its re-employment age to 70 on 1 January 2029, bringing forward its original 2030 target by a year. The change follows the increase to 64 and 69 on 1 July 2026 and comes with plans for more flexible jobs, revised employer subsidies and greater financial support for older workers.

The Government accepted six recommendations released on 26 October 2026 by the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment. Established in July 2025, the group brought together the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), and consulted more than 1,000 stakeholders.

For workers, the package connects two practical concerns: how long employment protections last, and whether suitable work is available when health, caregiving or personal priorities change. Employers will need to consider both retaining experienced staff and creating roles that can accommodate shorter hours or fewer responsibilities.

The earlier retirement age announcement set out the broader package. The immediate planning task is more detailed: discussing future roles early, identifying training needs and giving eligible employees enough time to consider re-employment offers.

MOM's updated re-employment guidelines, dated 1 July 2026, explain the arrangements supporting the current thresholds. They recommend career discussions around age 45, skills discussions around age 55 and consultations at least six months before re-employment begins.

What the two age limits mean

The retirement age protects employees against being retired because of their age before the legal threshold. Under the Retirement and Re-employment Act 1993, employers cannot dismiss employees on age grounds before the prescribed minimum retirement age, currently 64. MOM says it will take enforcement action against unlawful age based dismissals.

The re-employment age covers the next stage of working life. Employers must offer re-employment to eligible employees who wish to continue working, up to the applicable limit. From January 2029, that limit will rise from 69 to 70. Workers retain the choice to retire earlier.

The two thresholds will therefore move up by one year together, while the interval between them stays at five years. Re-employment can involve continuing in the same role or agreeing to a different arrangement.

The timetable includes changes already introduced and the next steps for the support package:

• 1 July 2022: Retirement and re-employment ages rose to 63 and 68.
• July 2025: The Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment was established.
• 1 July 2026: The ages rose to 64 and 69, and MOM updated its re-employment guidelines.
• 26 October 2026: The workgroup released its recommendations, which the Government accepted.
• First half of 2027: Further implementation and funding details are scheduled for release.
• End of 2027: The Senior Employment Credit and Part-Time Re-employment Grant are due to expire.
• 2028: A Re-Employment Credit is planned to replace the Senior Employment Credit.
• 1 January 2029: Retirement and re-employment ages will rise to 65 and 70.

Career planning should begin well before retirement

MOM's guidelines encourage employers to discuss future career plans and possible training with employees around age 45. Around age 55, discussions can focus more closely on the skills needed for re-employment.

Employers should consult employees at least six months before re-employment or an extension begins. Unionised companies should involve their unions. Discussions should cover possible roles, any training needed for a different job, and expected pay and benefits.

Eligible employees should receive a re-employment contract offer at least three months before retirement. This gives them time to assess the proposed work, hours and income, rather than having to make a decision as their existing employment ends.

The guidelines encourage contracts lasting five years, up to the prevailing re-employment age. Employers can alternatively offer contracts lasting at least one year, renewable up to that age while the employee remains eligible.

Job arrangements can include the same work, changes to an existing role, redeployment or another arrangement agreed by both sides. Pay and benefits may remain the same or change by mutual agreement. For a worker considering fewer hours, discussing duties and remuneration together makes the choice easier to understand.

Flexible hours do not always mean a lighter workload

MOM's 2024 figures show a gap between different forms of flexibility offered to employees. Among residents aged 50 to 64 working full time, 85.5% were offered flexible working hours, 78.7% were offered flexibility over work location and 74.5% were offered flexible workloads.

The gap between flexible hours and flexible workloads was 11 percentage points. An employee may be able to start later or work from home while still carrying the same amount of work. Someone managing health needs or caring for a family member may instead need fewer hours or responsibilities.

The proposed Flexi-Load Programme addresses that need. Flexible workload arrangements allow employees to take on a different amount of work, with corresponding changes in pay. Examples include part time work, job sharing and fractional roles, where a professional handles a defined portion of a job.

The programme will cover workers aged 50 and above, widening coverage from the threshold of 60 under the Part-Time Re-employment Grant it replaces. The existing grant, due to expire at the end of 2027, has supported about 68,500 senior workers and 7,800 employers.

Funding under the replacement programme is intended to depend on employers creating additional roles with flexible workloads. Companies would receive support for the practical work involved, including changing job designs, staffing systems and human resources policies built around full time employment.

How employers are testing different kinds of jobs

Thirty organisations across six sectors have already tested approaches to training, career guidance, job matching, alternative employment models and phased retirement. Their work under the Alliance for Action on Empowering Multi-Stage Careers for Mature Workers has benefited more than 1,600 senior workers.

Kampong Kapor Community Services, for example, worked with human resources firm Marsh People and Investments, formerly known as Mercer, on employment models built around individual sessions or cases. Such arrangements aim to retain experienced people whose circumstances no longer suit a conventional full time job.

A programme office led by the Skills and Workforce Development Agency, working with NTUC and SNEF, will support career and skills planning and help employers adopt practices suited to older employees. Its work will also connect workers and businesses with suitable job opportunities.

Dinesh Vasu Dash, Minister of State for Manpower, described the different forms that continued employment could take at the 26 October press conference:

For some seniors, this may mean continuing in the same job for longer. For others, it may mean moving into a different role, working at a different pace or adjusting work around changing personal circumstances.

Employers face practical costs in making those options available. Dividing a role into smaller parts can require changes to supervision, scheduling and the way work passes between colleagues. The proposed programme is designed to help meet those transition costs.

Employer support will move to new schemes

The current Senior Employment Credit provides wage offsets of up to 7% for eligible employers hiring Singaporean workers aged 60 and above who earn below S$4,000 a month. Higher support applies to older age bands.

A Re-Employment Credit is planned from 2028, following the existing credit's expiry at the end of 2027. The workgroup recommended stronger support for hiring and retaining workers beyond the retirement and re-employment ages, together with a higher wage ceiling.

Employers also have existing support for changing how work is organised. MOM's guidelines list the Part-Time Re-employment Grant at up to S$125,000, calculated at S$2,500 per eligible senior worker and capped at 50 workers per employer. It supports part time re-employment, flexible arrangements and structured career planning.

The Workforce Development Grant (Job Redesign+) provides up to S$150,000 to help employers redesign roles for older workers and offer flexible work options. Job redesign can include changing tasks or work processes so that more older employees can perform a role and continue doing it for longer.

The package links wage support with changes inside workplaces. A subsidy helps meet employment costs, while a redesigned role can make it practical for an experienced employee to stay.

Tax relief and wage support target different needs

Workers aged 55 to 59 can currently claim up to S$6,000 in Earned Income Relief, while those aged 60 and above can claim up to S$8,000. Tax relief reduces the income used to calculate a person's tax bill. Singapore also applies a zero tax rate to the first S$20,000 of a tax resident's chargeable income, meaning income after applicable deductions and reliefs.

The workgroup recommended increasing Earned Income Relief for senior workers who continue beyond the statutory retirement and re-employment ages. Workers who have income subject to tax would be able to keep more of their earnings through a lower tax bill.

Lower paid workers are addressed through other parts of the package. The proposed improvements to Workfare Income Supplement would support incomes and retirement savings. Workfare provides eligible workers with cash and Central Provident Fund contributions, and older workers already receive higher payouts.

The workgroup also recommended updating the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme, through which the Government shares the cost of eligible wage increases for lower paid workers. That support is intended to help employers raise salaries sustainably.

The measures serve different purposes. Tax relief reduces tax payable, Workfare adds income and retirement contributions, and wage credits support employers in paying higher wages. Together, they address both current earnings and savings for later life.

Support when re-employment or a job search becomes difficult

Employers unable to find a suitable re-employment role must, as a last resort, provide an Employment Assistance Payment to eligible workers. The payment is intended to help them while they look for alternative employment.

The recommended payment is 3.5 months of salary, subject to minimum and maximum amounts. Those limits were last updated in 2022. The workgroup recommended raising both to reflect wage growth.

Workers seeking a new job face a separate challenge: finding employers who value their experience while meeting changing skills requirements. NTUC deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan said workers aged 50 to 59 had the highest retrenchment rate, and only about four in 10 returned to work within six months.

Tan Ai Kim, a financial accountant aged 53, sought help from NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute after her contract ended. Employers were increasingly seeking artificial intelligence, analytics and digital skills. A career coach helped with referrals and interview preparation and recommended a workshop on industry trends and skills. She subsequently received a job offer and was awaiting confirmation of her start date.

Available support includes career coaching and job matching through the institute, courses through NTUC LearningHub, and union work with employers through Company Training Committees to change jobs and training. The SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme provides eligible workers who lose employment involuntarily with temporary financial help during their search.

The next decisions come in 2027

The Government is expected to release implementation details in the first half of 2027, including during the Committee of Supply debates, when ministries present and discuss their spending plans. The new credit rates, revised payment limits, enhanced tax relief and detailed grant conditions have yet to be announced.

Employers can begin planning against the existing guidelines now: identify employees approaching retirement, discuss their preferences, assess training needs and prepare contract offers on time. Workers can use the same discussions to consider whether they want to continue in the same role, reduce their workload or move into different duties.

Desmond Tan, NTUC deputy secretary-general and a co-chair of the workgroup, described the intended range of options:

Senior workers should have genuine options in how they continue contributing – whether through full-time work, flexible arrangements or adjusted responsibilities.

The January 2029 age increases extend employment protection. The accompanying programmes address the practical question of what work looks like during those extra years, including its hours, responsibilities, pay and suitability for each employee.

Key Points

• Singapore will raise the retirement age to 65 and re-employment age to 70 on 1 January 2029, one year ahead of its original target.
• The current thresholds of 64 and 69 took effect on 1 July 2026.
• MOM recommends re-employment discussions at least six months in advance and contract offers at least three months before retirement.
• A new Flexi-Load Programme will cover workers aged 50 and above and replace the Part-Time Re-employment Grant after its expiry.
• A Re-Employment Credit is planned from 2028, alongside changes to tax relief, employment assistance and support for lower paid seniors.
• Further implementation and funding details are due in the first half of 2027.