PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT (Statistics and incentives)

Column No : 1941

PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT

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(Statistics and incentives): **

9.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what percentage of employment in Singapore is part-time work; (b) what is the breakdown in percentages, absolute numbers and by gender, for the private and public sectors; (c) have these percentages been increasing over the last five years; and (d) are there any specific plans to encourage more employers to offer part-time work and, if so, what are they.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: There were 108,800 part-time workers in June 2004 1 and this constituted 5.3% of all employed persons. Females made up 65% or 70,500 of the part-time workers. The share of part-time employment had increased moderately over the years from 4.7% (96,900 workers) in 2001 to 5.3% (108,800 workers) in 2004.

There were 260 (0.43%) part-time workers in the public sector in June 2005, up from 178 (0.28%) in 2000. The relatively low take-up rate of part-time employment in the public sector partly reflects the availability of other flexible work arrangements and pro-family policies which help meet the varied needs of civil servants. For example, on average, about 1,000 female officers take no-pay childcare leave per year to look after their children. This makes up about 22% of the total female officers with children aged 4 years and below.

The Government, together with the tripartite partners, will continue to encourage employers to introduce more flexible work arrangements, including part-time work, to better meet the needs of both companies as well as workers. Such arrangements will allow workers who have difficulty working standard hours to be economically active and increases their productivity. At the same time, employers will be able to tap on additional manpower, including highly skilled and experienced workers.

1 Latest available. Data from 2005 General Household Survey is not available yet.