Hansard Explorer

Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) how have job tenures and employment retention rates changed for persons with disabilities since 2022; (b) what are the main reasons for their exit from employment; and (c) given the Enabling Masterplan 2030 target for employment of persons with disabilities, why has the Government not set a corresponding target for employment retention.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong) (for the Acting Minister for Manpower): We track the employment outcomes of persons with disabilities supported under employment programmes, such as SG Enable's Open Door Programme, which supports persons with disabilities in finding and sustaining employment.

Between 2022 and 2025, SG Enable and its job placement partners have helped to place more than 2,400 persons with disabilities into employment, with more than 80% remaining employed for at least six months. In 2025, 24.4% of the employed residents with disabilities remained with the same employer for at least a year. While we do not have the full longitudinal data on job tenures and employment retention going back to 2022, we are strengthening our tracking of employment outcomes as part of ongoing efforts to improve support for persons with disabilities.

We do not currently track the main reasons for exit from employment for persons with disabilities. As we implement the recommendations of the Taskforce on Assurance for Families with Persons with Disabilities, we will look into whether exit reasons can be systematically captured to better inform the design of retention support.

The Enabling Masterplan 2030 sets an aspirational goal of achieving a 40% employment rate for persons with disabilities by 2030. We have made good progress towards this goal. The resident employment rate of persons with disabilities aged 15 to 64 rose from 31.4% in 2022, to 34.7% in 2025.

Nonetheless, helping more persons with disabilities enter employment remains a priority, as this is an important first step towards building meaningful careers.

We recognise that retention is as important as the entry into employment. The Taskforce's recommendations include extending the duration of employment support, and enhancing funding and hands-on support for employers to better integrate and retain employees with disabilities. They also include efforts to improve the work readiness of persons with disabilities and strengthen employer incentives to expand job opportunities.

We will track employment outcomes, including retention rates, after these recommendations have been implemented to assess where further support is warranted and whether additional targets are appropriate.

Mr Speaker: Mr Yip.

Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his reply. Our incentives have understandably been focused on helping employers to take the first step of hiring. Given that retention now appears to be the bigger challenge, will the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) consider progressively shifting part of our support towards employers that successfully retain and develop workers with disabilities rather than measuring success primarily at the point of hiring?

My second supplementary question is on improving retention. We need to know where people are falling out of employment. So, in MOM's review, will MOM consider publishing retention and exit reasons by disability type, sector and length of employment so that support can be targeted at the points where workers are most at risk of leaving?

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong: I thank the Member for the questions, and they are two very good questions. Indeed, there is also, I would not say a shift in focus to the employers, but additional focus on employers. And that is why, more recently, the Taskforce has put some recommendations and some of them are focused on employers. For example, the Employment Support Office, which is a one-stop hub for both potential employees and employers to get help to develop a more conducive working environment as well as training for those with disabilities.

On MOM's information on retention rates, it is something that we will work on. It is true that with the additional information, we can then put together some plans and programmes to target and help with retention rates.