Minister calls the proposal “too soon” as the re-employment age was just raised from 65 to 67 last year
The Singapore government will not be raising the retirement and re-employment ages for now.
Parliament’s proposal to raise the re-employment age comes too soon, according to Minister of State for Manpower Sam Tan, because it was pushed to 67 just last year.
Workers can retire at 62 if they choose to do so, but employers are required to re-employ those who are healthy and performing well, up to 67.
MP Intan Azura Mokhtar suggested raising the retirement age to 65 and the re-employment age to 70. MP Lily Neo said some people felt the age cap should be abolished.
Tan said though there are no immediate plans to consider lifting the re-employment age, there will be scope to raise the age of re-employment further again over time, reported the Straits Times.
"With extended lifespans and improved health among seniors, there will be scope to raise the age of re-employment further again over time," he said, without setting any date. "This will be a matter for tripartite deliberations."
A total of 12 backbenchers spoke in the parliament debate earlier this week.
There are countries with no retirement age, such as the United Kingdom and Denmark. There are also countries with a higher retirement age than Singapore, such as Sweden and Finland.
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