Jasmin Lau to be promoted to Acting Minister for Manpower & SMS for Digital Development & Information

As part of the Jul. 22 Cabinet reshuffle, Jasmin Lau will be promoted to Acting Minister for Manpower and will relinquish her role as Minister of State for Education.

She will also be promoted from Minister of State to Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information.

The 43-year-old will be taking over the manpower role from Tan See Leng, who helmed the ministry since 2021.

Tan will be appointed Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry).

Lau joins GE2025 debutants David Neo and Jeffrey Siow in Cabinet ministerial positions, the latter of whom were promoted to Ministers for Culture, Community and Youth, and for Transport, respectively.

They have yet to be co-opted into the People's Action Party's Central Executive Committee.

Lau's new appointments, along with those in the new Cabinet, will take effect on Jul. 27, 2026.

'Big shoes to fill': Lau

During the Jul. 22 press conference on the Cabinet reshuffle, Lau thanked Minister for Education Desmond Lee and her colleagues at MOE for their "guidance and partnership" in the past year.

She then turned to MOM and Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng, noting that she has "big shoes to fill".

"Jobs are on everyone's minds right now, and rightly so," Lau said.

Technology is causing disruption and workers and companies are "trying their best to navigate this change".

On this, Lau said:

"Our responsibility going forward is to help them through this change. This will mean looking at how we uplift our workers in the most vulnerable segments, helping Singaporeans cope with more free work career transitions, and also ensuring that lifelong learning is genuinely accessible and relevant."

Lau also said she will "keep a close eye" on retirement adequacy.

Noting her experience working in MOM from 2008 to 2010, Lau recognised that the workforce landscape has "changed significantly".

"So I do look forward to working with MOM colleagues this round," she added.

Lau also thanked PM Wong for "entrusting [her] with this role" and said that she is "ready to do [her] best".

Extensive civil service career

Lau, who holds a Master's degree in technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has an extensive career in civil service.

She was Deputy Secretary (Policy) at the Ministry of Health (MOH) before resigning from the role to run in GE2025 in Ang Mo Kio GRC.

After her successful election in 2025, she was made Minister of State for Digital Development and Information and for Education.

During her time in the roles, Lau spoke often about the impact of AI, such as during this year's Singapore Perspectives forum organised by the Institute of Policy Studies.

She also co-chaired one of the committees during the government's Economic Strategy Review.