Starting July, public service employees in Singapore will have at least one more year to work before they can be asked to retire.

This is because their retirement age, currently standing at 62, will be raised to 63 from July 1, 2021.

Their re-employment age will also be raised from 67 to 68.

The upcoming change was reiterated on Friday (Feb. 26) during the Committee of Supply debates for the Prime Minister's Office, by Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing.

Chan is also the Minister-in-charge of the public service, and Minister for Trade and Industry.

As per its previous announcement in August 2019, the public service will be raising its retirement and re-employment age a year ahead of time, as the change is only scheduled to take effect from July 1, 2022, for the rest of the country.

In his National Day Rally speech on August 18, 2019, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the retirement and re-employment ages will be raised in gradual steps.

Raising the retirement and re-employment ages to 63 and 68 is the first step toward the eventual target of raising them to 65 and 70 by 2030.

PM Lee said these measures were part of the government's efforts to help older workers, and had been recommended by a Tripartite Workgroup, established by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in 2018, to study the matter.

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