With Singapore seeing an increase in seniors aged 55 years and above within the resident labour force, there have been debates centered around statutory retirement age, CPF contributions et cetera, to extend support for these seniors to continue working to be more financially independent.  

On November 2^nd, there were two key Bills that were passed in Singapore’s Parliament. These Bills surround amendments to the Retirement and Re-Employment age, as well as the CPF Act.  

Specifically, what do the main changes entail? 

1. The retirement and re-employment age for Singapore workers will be progressively raised to 65 and 70 respectively, up from 62 and 67 currently. This process will start from 1^st July 2022, with the retirement age being raised to 63 and the re-employment age to 68. 

2. In line with this increase, the CPF contribution rate for senior workers aged above 55 to 70 years old will also be increased by 2 percentage points starting from 1^st January 2022. This change was deferred for a year in light of the impacts of pandemic on businesses.  

According to the speech by Singapore’s Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng, these two Bills would help Singaporeans better prepare for their retirement. With the increase in retirement and re-employment age, it introduces more flexibility for Singaporeans to work longer if they wish to. Not only that, with some amendments towards the process of payouts and contributions, it is now a more efficient process for Singaporeans to receive retirement payouts and navigate through their retirement journey with CPF. 

Despite the changes in the statutory retirement and re-employment ages, there remains no changes to the CPF withdrawal policies or ages.  

What does this mean for employers? 

Employers are recommended to make changes around their current processes to encourage a more age-friendly workplace. With more seniors being part of the workforce, it is vital for employers to join hands to support this movement towards an inclusive workforce. Employers should consider redesigning policies, jobs and trainings to provide an environment that help seniors remain employable and allow them to better adapt and contribute their strengths the best they can. 

Articles referenced: 

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/retirement-and-re-employment-ages-will-be-raised-to-65-and-70

https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/national-day-rally-2019-retirement-age-to-go-up-to-65-older-workers-cpf-rates-to-be-raised

Technology, the pandemic, the work-from-home arrangements, the pressure on businesses to transform their traditional working processes, and many other factors have shaped the world to look at remote working as the norm today. How did we get here? Remote hiring was not the go-to option 5 years back, but in less than a decade here we are today, accustomed to meetings that fit within a screen, and being decked in work appropriate wear on the top half and Pajamas on the bottom half.

All thanks to COVID-19 expediting this transformation towards remote working, it is apparent that remote working is here to stay. While this is a perk for many employees due to reasons such as flexibility and comfort, it also opens up a huge window of opportunity for businesses in terms of recruitment.  

This transition towards remote work means that businesses are no longer constrained by geographical boundaries. This is a major difference between remote recruiting and standard recruiting: the scaling of recruitment efforts into global markets. With working online becoming the norm, the whole process of recruitment from pre-screening to onboarding can now be done on a completely remote basis through technology. This means that businesses in industries with small talent pools can now expand their talent search and explore the talent pool from other countries.

While it can be such an advantage for businesses to hire a remote worker from another location, there is undoubtedly a caveat to it. Remote hiring is typically just an extension of your business team, which can be hard to manage given that the employee is situated in another geographical location. Because of that, remote employees do not enjoy the benefits that the local employees do, which covers national social contribution plans benefits, or medical insurance benefits. This could make working for your company less attractive. On top of that, the concern of disconnection and misalignment can prove to be challenging when you are managing employees from oceans away.

Another remote recruitment method similar to remote hiring is offshore hiring. The difference is that you hire the remote employee through an offshore hiring company, where they provide candidates tailored to your company’s needs. Not only that, the offshore hiring company will also provide local labour benefits from their entity, as well as manage them at their dedicated workspace. This is a popular method for companies who are looking at global markets but want to minimize the risks and uncertainty that direct remote recruitment might bear.

Ultimately, different companies have different recruitment needs and preferences. With remote work being the norm today, companies have more options to explore in their search of the perfect candidate. Our verdict is that remote recruitment might not suit every type of business, but it might be viable for businesses looking for short term projects or freelance work. As for a longer term project and commitment where close management of the employee is needed, employing an offshore hiring company can reduce uncertainties and yield better results compared to direct remote recruitment.

Technology is great, that is undeniable. It has revolutionized the way we talk and communicate, covering every aspect of our lives, including work. Everyone is reachable via their mobile phones… too reachable, in fact. Helicopter parents hover over their children’s soldiers digitally, calling every hour or so, demanding to know their whereabouts. A call at 3am is either an inconsiderate friend, a fellow night owl, or an emergency. But a call from work? After work hours? That is just tiresome, but also a reality that many of us in the developed world have learned to grudgingly accept.

Which is why everyone is both envious and surprised whenever they find out about France’s “right to disconnect” law, a law that ensures an employee’s rights to not be contacted for work-related issues after work hours. This law draws a hard boundary between work hours and personal hours, a boundary that is even further eroded during pandemic times, where the days and hours just seemingly blend together. For Singaporeans, the erosion of this boundary sours whatever benefits working from home may offer.

As of late, Tripartite partners Ministry of Manpower (MOM), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) have come up with several measures to boost work-life harmony within Singapore’s workplace culture. 

Employers now have access to a website with several resources to aid them carry out appropriate measures, as well as an online tool to identify workplace stressors. There is also funding from various programs available for companies wishing to do so.

However,  these moves do not seem to be quite enough, for an imbalance between work life and personal time goes beyond stressors in company culture. For instance, in order to save costs, an employee may be unfairly saddled with more work than they can handle, as compared to hiring yet another person. Of course, there are also issues such as annoying coworkers who do not respect personal space, or a clash in personalities in the office. Still, those issues could be forgotten as soon as one is out of the office, but what if one keeps continuing because of the heavy workload? Burnout and fatigue is knocking on the door.

Which is why companies should consider alternative solutions for their hiring needs. It is understandable that pockets for certain industries are tight during this pandemic, and that work from home makes it too easy to disproportionately distribute workload, but that does not mean things could not be better. What if,  by expanding the mind overseas to be open to wilder possibilities, everyone gets a chance at better work-life balance?

For companies in Singapore, offshoring tech hiring needs to Malaysia may be a win-win solution both for the wallet and the poor employees shouldering such heavy workloads. With lesser work to do, the employee may finally make it out of the office by sunset, hence improving work-life balance. With improved work-life balance comes benefits which include increased overall productivity, greater retention in job, and increased shareholder values too. All in all, perhaps offshoring may be an underrated solution. 

Sources:

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/tripartite-partners-strengthen-measures-to-improve-work-life-harmony-in-singapore

https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/good-work-practices/work-life-strategies

Starting from 2022, Malaysia’s central bank will start issuing licenses for digital banking, hence joining the rankings which include Singapore and Hong Kong.

Ever since the pandemic started, there has been an increasing need for the digitalization of all sorts of acts that were previously more popular offline, with going to the bank as being one of them. However, the confinement to one’s housing does not stop the need to have to deal with the bank every once in a while, and visiting brick and mortar places may present a threat to health.

Hence, with Malaysia’s central bank issuing the first digital banking licenses from 2022 onwards, it is expected that more and more banks would be joining the crew too, kickstarting the Fintech landscape in Malaysia.

As of now, Malaysia is competitive in technology, as it accounts for 13% of global chip packaging and testing, and 7% of the world’s semiconductor trade passes through the country, with some value addition done via additional processing. With the rise of digital banking, Malaysia would have yet another item to add to its repertoire. 

The rise is expected to uplift associated services, such as e-wallets, additional payment avenues, online shopping and more. This could also mean a rise in jobs requiring relevant skill sets, such as software development and more. Overall, the start of Malaysia’s digital banking next year spells good news for both businesses and the common people.

References:

www.aseanbriefing.com/news/digital-banking-in-malaysia-new-opportunities-for-fintech/

https://www.reuters.com/technology/taiwan-says-resolving-chip-shortages-needs-malaysias-help-2021-10-01/

The unemployment rate for Singapore saw a dip from 2.8% to 2.7% in August, despite the flip-flopping COVID-19 measures. 
 

This is a sign that the economy is indeed recovering, albeit gradually. 

Even with the uptick of COVID-19 cases, Singaporeans are still keeping their jobs, and these numbers fluctuate mainly due to layoffs of temporary staff and workers. 
 

As Singapore gradually moves towards endemic living, unemployment rates should also stabilise in general. 
 

However, the Minister of Manpower said to expect recovery to be uneven across sectors, as each sector is affected by the pandemic differently. Dining-in restrictions certainly hit the Food & Beverage industry the most. 
 

As of August, there were 84 400 unemployed residents, and 75 800 were citizens. 

Safe to say, the labour force is heading towards an OK direction for now. 

References:

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-unemployment-rate-dips-to-27-in-august-after-brief-uptick-in-july-mom