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MOM to remove cap on employment period for work permit holders & raise maximum employment age to 63
"With these changes, employers can retain experienced workers who are still able to contribute," Tan said.
March 07, 2025, 12:04 PM
The Singapore government is changing the existing work permit framework in a bid to allow firms to better retain experienced workers who can still contribute.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will be removing the maximum period of employment restrictions for work permit holders, and aligning their maximum employment age with the local retirement age.
The changes, which will be rolled out later this year, were announced during the Committee of Supply debate on Mar. 6, 2025, by Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng:
"We are actively reviewing our Work Permit framework to drive transformation, while nuancing it to support different needs as our workforce changes. Updates will be shared in due course."
Employment period cap removed
Previously, the period of employment was capped at 14 to 26 years, Tan noted.
The maximum employment period varied according to the nationality and type of worker, such as whether the worker was "basic-skilled" or "high-skilled".
Tan noted that the employment cap caused firms "to let go of experienced workers who could be at prime working age."
As of Jul. 1, 2025, this employment period cap will be removed for all nationalities.
The maximum employment age of work permit holders will also be raised from Jul. 1, to align with the local retirement age, which is currently at 63.
Previously, the maximum employment age was 60.
According to a release from MOM, it will also streamline the age limit for new work permit applications, pegging it to two years below the local retirement age — that is, 61 years old.
"With these changes, employers can retain experienced workers who are still able to contribute," Tan said.
Non-traditional source list expanded
MOM is also moving to expand its list of non-traditional sources.
From June 1, 2025, this list will include Bhutan, Cambodia and Laos.
Non-traditional sources list of occupations
According to MOM, the non-traditional sources occupations list was introduced in 2023 to assist firms with pressing manpower needs for occupations that see low take-up by locals, and are harder to automate.
Manufacturing and services firms can only hire work permit holders from this given list of non-traditional sources in a restricted set of occupations.
Firms must pay their work permit holder performing occupations in this list a fixed monthly salary of at least S$2,000.
Firms must also keep the sub-dependency ratio of work permit holders from non-traditional sources under 8 per cent.
MOM will also be expanding the non-traditional sources occupations list from Sep. 1, 2025 to include cooks, heavy vehicle drivers and manufacturing operators.
The addition of "cooks", in particular, will be replacing existing MOM guidelines on hiring work permit holders from non-traditional sources for Indian restaurants.
Top photo from Canva.
