Hansard Explorer
Search and read the Parliament of Singapore's debates, questions and statements, since 1955.
By Sitting Date
By MP
Browse all topics discussed on a specific date
The paragraphs closest in meaning to your words, from every speech, with who said them. Search above, or use “Similar passages ›” beside a search's count in Sections.
164 results · 2026
By year
By type
Speakers in these results
Timeline of the top 40
Positions taken
Initiatives to Reduce Burnout and Improve Retention Among Social Workers
Speakers: Charlene Chen, Masagos Zulkifli B M M
Dr Charlene Chen asked the Minister for Social and Family Development how the effectiveness of the different initiatives and measures to reduce burnout and retain social workers, including supervision, administrative support and career development, is evaluated.
The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): Mr Speaker, our data shows that sector-level retention rate of social service professionals has been stable over the past few years. Social service agencies (SSAs) routinely look into their own organisational data to examine reasons for staff attrition and introduce ways to better retain their employees. We do not track the effectiveness of individual SSAs' efforts.
However, at the sector level, the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) supports the efforts of SSAs through initiatives, such as the Sabbatical Leave Scheme, which has had healthy take-up. SSAs have also been tapping on the Professional Capability Grant for clinical supervision, and the Transformation Sustainability Scheme to digitalise processes and strengthen people practices.
Mr Speaker: Dr Chen.
Dr Charlene Chen (Tampines): I thank the Minister for his response. I have three supplementary questions. Firstly, does the Ministry for Social and Family Development (MSF) assess whether caseloads and case complexity are manageable across different social service settings, and would it consider workload benchmarks that account for case complexity, administrative demands and supervision needs?
My second question: do we know at what stage of their careers social workers are most likely to leave frontline practice or the profession altogether, and whether MSF has improved its tracking of this since the issue was raised in Parliament in 2021?
My third supplementary question: some experienced social workers may wish to step away from intensive frontline case work without leaving the sector. Does MSF facilitate transitions into supervision, training, programme development and other roles, including across different SSAs, so that their expertise remains in the sector?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: For the first question, the answer is yes.
For the second question, we do look at the sector-level retention rate. Meaning, as a whole, is the sector retaining the talents? Are they leaving the sector for other jobs outside the sector? And we are satisfied, at this point in time, that they are not. And therefore, for us, this is the highest hygiene level and we think it is okay. Therefore, we will keep monitoring and ensure that this is sustainable.
Thirdly, for those who want to step out of their frontline role, even take Sabbatical Leave, there is already a scheme available to them where NCSS funds up to $15,000 for them to be away for about six months. [Please refer to "Clarification by Minister for Social and Family Development", Official Report, 4 November 2026, Vol 96, Issue 41, Clarification section.] But if they want to do other roles, they should really talk to their supervisors or negotiate with other SSAs who might want to take them in for a short while – and I am sure that the SSAs will welcome them.