PUBLISHED ONJuly 28, 2026 12:55 PMBYSean LerSingaporeans are living longer and healthier lives, but Singapore's population is also ageing rapidly, with 20.7 per cent of Singaporeans aged 65 and older as of 2025.
Against this backdrop and a falling labour force participation rate, there have been efforts to bring seniors back into the workforce.
One such example is Schneider Electric which specialises in digital transformation of energy management and automation solutions.
Located in Kallang, the French multinational company has over 1,300 employees from 44 nationalities.
Of these, about 70 per cent, or over 900 workers are locals.
Recognising Singapore's ageing population, with about 20 per cent of its workforce aged 51 and above, the company started its "Experience Forward Programme" — an initiative aimed at supporting its experienced workers.
Under the programme, employees are empowered to learn, grow and contribute meaningfully at every stage of their careers.
The company also supports its experienced workers through different career and life stages, thereby retaining valuable skills and expertise within the organisation.
To do this, it tailored the programme for its experienced workers around four personas.
The personas are: those who still want to do more; those who want to continue contributing at a higher level while deepening their expertise; those who wish to inspire the next generation; and those who wish to retire and transition out.
"What this means is that all our experienced talents will have access to (tailored) career conversations with their managers," said Monica Chia, vice-president of human resources at Schneider Electric.
It intends to scale up the programme, embedding it as part of its employees' life cycles and automatically enrolling workers when they reach the age of 51.
Speaking to the media after his visit on Tuesday (July 28), Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash pointed out that senior workers continue to offer a wealth of experience for the younger generation to tap on.
"It is for this reason that the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment...came together to ask ourselves what else we can do to support our senior workers, and how to transition them," he said.
Referring to Schneider Electric's programme, the minister of state highlighted that it is one of the 30 organisations working through several prototypes that would support senior employment by providing training and career guidance, job matching, alternative employment models, and phased retirement.
Dinesh explained: "So this allows the wealth of experience of the senior workers to be kept within the company. The senior workers also act as mentors to the junior ones, so that the junior ones can learn from the experience of our senior workers as well.
"And it's a way for our senior workers to lead dignified lives and to be able to make a salary for themselves, while contributing to their companies."
National Trades Union Congress deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan noted that even as artificial intelligence is changing the nature of work, seniors can still contribute "quite meaningfully" given their wealth of experience, industry knowledge and their ability to mentor the younger generation.
Singapore National Employers Federation vice-president Tan Hwee Bin encouraged employers to start talking to senior workers early through a structured career plan.
"By leveraging on the strength of senior employees, companies can improve and enhance their talent bank, and achieve a more resilient workforce."
The 30 organisations piloting such initiatives, in partnership with the Alliance for Action on Empowering Multi-Stage Careers for Mature Workers, will receive funding support to co-create possible solutions.
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