Govt exploring grants, incentives for firms to offer jobs with flexible workloads

Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau (left) and Institute of Policy Studies senior research fellow Gillian Koh at a dialogue session at the Young Singaporeans Conference at Temasek Shophouse on Oct 14, 2026.

ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

Published Oct 14, 2026, 09:30 PM

Updated Oct 14, 2026, 09:30 PM

SINGAPORE - The Government is studying how to encourage employers to offer fractional work to people who need greater flexibility in their careers, said Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau on Oct 14.

This will involve offering grants and incentives to employers and helping them redesign certain jobs into bundles of tasks, she added.

Fractional work refers to arrangements in which employees provide their skills on a part-time basis, working a fraction of the hours of a full-time employee.

Lau was responding to a question from a young woman during a 20-minute dialogue at the Young Singaporeans Conference organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). The conference focused on the Republic’s declining total fertility rate and its marriage and parenthood policies.

The woman asked if discussions around family-friendly job opportunities should focus on creating such roles rather than insisting that existing roles be made family-friendly.

Lau told about 80 participants aged between 18 and 35 that the Government is working on “a couple of ideas” around flexible load jobs, which are also referred to as fractional jobs or part-time jobs.

Her comments come after a workgroup studying how to help senior workers be productive and employable concluded its discussions. The group will release its recommendations soon, said Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash in an Oct 9 social media post.

The tripartite workgroup, announced at Budget 2025 , had convened a group of employers and organisations to explore multi-stage careers for mature workers, including pilots for seniors to take on fractional work.

At the Oct 14 dialogue held at Temasek Shophouse, Lau said the authorities are studying how to help employers redesign roles by bundling tasks differently for employees, allowing them to work at different rhythms.

They are identifying the industries and job roles most suited to such efforts, and will start with them before scaling up nationwide, said Lau.

Those doing fractional work must understand they may be paid differently depending on the tasks and outcomes they deliver, added the Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information.

“This is not just a marriage and parenthood policy or intervention. This is something that supports anyone who needs flexibility in their working life, and it also doesn’t have to be permanent,” she added.

Lau said fractional work could be an option for those caring for young children or elderly parents. They could move on to different roles when their children are older, or when their caregiving duties have alleviated.

She is part of the Marriage and Parenthood Reset Workgroup , formed in April to address Singapore’s record-low fertility rate, which will share its full report in early 2027.

Proposals for the Government to lead by example on flexible and fractional work were floated by the Singapore Business Federation earlier in 2026 while MPs have sought updates on Government efforts to roll out such arrangements.

The Manpower Ministry said in September in response to Cassandra Lee (Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC) that it would consider expanding fractional work models to younger caregivers and parents. It said then that fractional work trials were ongoing and would conclude later in 2026.

Other dialogue participants on Oct 14 asked about how Lau juggles work and family, and whether the public service could take the lead in setting norms on work-life balance.

Lau said that as a large employer, the public service can be a good role model but being too prescriptive with fixed hours may not accommodate different lifestyle routines.

Wong Yang is a journalist who covers politics and policy.

Flexible work arrangements

Ministry of Manpower

2026年10月14日，人力部代理部长刘嘉敏（左）和政策研究所高级研究员许吉莉安在淡马锡店屋举行的“新加坡青年大会”上进行对话。

《海峡时报》照片：梁崇俊

发布于2026年10月14日晚上9:30

更新于2026年10月14日晚上9:30

新加坡——人力部代理部长刘嘉敏于10月14日表示，政府正在研究如何鼓励雇主向那些需要在职业生涯中拥有更大灵活性的人提供兼职工作。

她补充说，这将包括向雇主提供补助金和奖励，并帮助他们将某些工作重新设计成一系列任务。

兼职工作是指员工以兼职形式提供技能，工作时间仅为全职员工工作时间的几分之一。

刘先生是在新加坡政策研究所（IPS）主办的“新加坡青年大会”上，回答一位年轻女性提出的20分钟对话问题时做出上述表态的。此次大会聚焦新加坡不断下降的总和生育率及其婚姻和育儿政策。

这位女士问道，关于有利于家庭的工作机会的讨论，是否应该侧重于创造这类职位，而不是坚持要求现有的职位变得有利于家庭。

刘先生告诉大约 80 名年龄在 18 岁至 35 岁之间的参与者，政府正在研究一些关于灵活工作安排的想法，这些工作也被称为部分工作或兼职工作。

此前，一个研究如何帮助老年员工提高工作效率和就业能力的特别工作组结束了讨论。人力部国务部长迪内什·瓦苏·达什在10月9日的社交媒体帖子中表示，该工作组将很快发布相关建议。

在 2025 年预算案中宣布成立的三方工作组召集了一批雇主和组织，探讨成熟员工的多阶段职业生涯，包括让老年人从事兼职工作的试点项目。

在 10 月 14 日于淡马锡店屋举行的对话会上，刘表示，有关部门正在研究如何帮助雇主重新设计员工角色，通过不同的任务组合方式，让员工能够以不同的节奏工作。

刘先生表示，他们正在确定最适合此类举措的行业和职位，并将从这些行业和职位开始，然后再推广到全国。

数字发展和信息部高级国务部长补充说，那些从事零工的人必须明白，他们的报酬可能会根据他们完成的任务和成果而有所不同。

她补充说：“这不仅仅是一项婚姻和育儿政策或干预措施。这项政策旨在支持任何需要在工作生活中拥有灵活性的人，而且这种灵活性也不一定非得是永久性的。”

刘先生表示，兼职工作对于需要照顾年幼子女或年迈父母的人来说可能是一个选择。等到孩子长大或照护责任减轻后，他们可以转而从事其他工作。

她是“婚姻与育儿重置工作组”的成员，该工作组于 4 月成立，旨在解决新加坡创纪录的低生育率问题，并将于 2027 年初发布完整报告。

新加坡商业联合会在 2026 年初提出了政府应以身作则推行灵活和兼职工作的建议，而国会议员们也一直在寻求政府在推行此类安排方面取得最新进展。

人力部9月份在回应卡桑德拉·李（裕廊东-武吉巴督集选区）的质询时表示，将考虑把兼职工作模式推广到更年轻的照护者和父母群体。当时人力部还表示，兼职工作试点项目正在进行中，将于2026年晚些时候结束。

10 月 14 日，其他对话参与者询问了刘是如何平衡工作和家庭的，以及公共服务部门是否可以在制定工作与生活平衡规范方面发挥带头作用。

刘先生表示，作为大型雇主，公共服务部门可以成为很好的榜样，但过于规定固定的工作时间可能无法适应不同的生活方式习惯。

黄阳是一位报道政治和政策的记者。

灵活的工作安排

人力部