Manpower Ministry may extend Job Redesign grant beyond end date in June

SINGAPORE — For Madam Esther Tung, her job as part of the housekeeping crew in Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort and Spa entails counting towels.

“It was tough to count the towels one by one… My whole body will ache,” the 62-year-old said.

From the middle of last year, the resort started putting RFID tags on the towels and this, Mdm Tung said, helped ease her workload. All she needs to do is to run a scanner through the stacks of towels and she will be able to get an accurate figure.

This is one of the initiatives the resort has implemented, aided by the Government’s WorkPro Job Redesign Grant, to provide a better work environment for workers aged 50 and above.

The grant has benefited about 20,000 workers since it was enhanced in July 2016.

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo, who visited the resort on Thursday (Feb 14), said her ministry is considering extending the grant beyond its end date in June.

“If the programme continues to show good results… we will want to find ways to see how we can extend the support,” Mrs Teo said.

The funding disbursed from the grant and updates on the tripartite workgroup on older workers will also be discussed in the upcoming Committee of Supply debate, said Mrs Teo.

“We also have to look at what makes it possible for seniors to stay in employment,” she said.

Under the WorkPro initiative, there are three grants that help employers create an age-friendly environment for workers — Age Management Grant, Job Redesign Grant and Work-Life Grant.

Mrs Teo will look at strengthening the Work-Life Grant to support more companies in implementing flexible work arrangements for older workers.

“Quite often, when they improve the work environment for the seniors, it's not just the seniors who benefit, the rest of the workforce also benefit," she added.

On the same day, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat visited NTUC FairPrice’s Benoi Distribution Centre to look at various forms of automation technology that have been implemented.

One piece of technology implemented last year was an automated storage and retrieval system that enables FairPrice to handle more than 6,000 e-commerce orders a day on its FairPrice On mobile application. It is also four times faster than the previous system.

Mr Heng said the embrace of new technology, competitiveness of companies and upskilling of workers will be emphasised in his Budget announcement on Feb 18.

The Budget is also expected to feature the Merdeka Generation Package as a major part of social policy announcements.