Employers to get single grant, bigger wage offsets to hire persons with disabilities
Singapore will merge three existing grants for employers who hire persons with disabilities into a single scheme, as part of efforts to expand job opportunities for the group.
Under the plan, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will fold the Open Door Programme Job Redesign Grant, the Open Door Programme Training Grant for Employers, and the Employer Development Grant into a single Enabling Employment Grant, expected to launch in the first half of 2027.
The plan is one of the recommendations from the Taskforce on Assurance for Families with Persons with Disabilities, released by MSF on 4 October.
The move follows feedback from employers, who said they found it difficult to identify the right grants and cumbersome to file multiple applications.
"Under the new Enabling Employment Grant... funding support will be brought together into a single grant with simpler application and claims processes for employers," the taskforce's report read.
"Instead of only being able to use monies from individual grants for specific purposes, employers will have greater flexibility to use funding from a single grant for multiple purposes."
The grant will also cover customised in-house training, more courses for employers and co-workers, and more funding for in-house job coaches.
Bigger wage offsets
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will also enhance the Enabling Employment Credit in 2027.
The scheme currently offsets up to 20% of the monthly wages of employees with disabilities earning below S$4,000, capped at S$400 a month.
Employers hiring someone who had been out of work for at least six months receive a nine-month temporary offset of up to a further 20%, capped at S$400 a month. MOM will increase the amount and duration of this temporary offset and raise the income ceiling, with details due later this year.
Help to redesign jobs
SG Enable's new Employment Support Office, expected to be fully operational in the second half of 2027, will also work with trade associations and chambers to help employers identify and redesign suitable roles, including roles created by technologies such as artificial intelligence.
From 2028, job support for workers with higher support needs in open employment will run longer than the current one year, with continued help when problems arise later.
Grant for supported enterprises
MSF and SG Enable will launch a Supported-Enterprise Enabling Grant later this year for enterprises that employ a significant proportion of persons with disabilities with moderate support needs.
It will fund training officers and allied professionals such as therapists and psychologists, alongside business development support from the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE). The time-limited funding aims to help these enterprises sustain support on their own.
Government's 40% employment target
The employment rate of resident persons with disabilities aged 15 to 64 was 34.7% in 2024–2025, up from 28.2% in 2018–2019, according to Comprehensive Labour Force Survey figures cited in the report.
The report said employment support must expand to reach a 40% employment rate by 2030, as more graduates from Special Education (SPED) schools move into work.
The taskforce said the measures would improve employment outcomes and retention, contributing to its 2030 goal.
