Singapore is strengthening workplace flexibility, caregiving support and re-entry pathways to help women navigate career breaks, Acting Minister for Manpower and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information, Jasmin Lau said at the SCWO SAGE Summit 2026.
Lau said career paths are increasingly shaped by caregiving, family responsibilities and other life changes, making it important for workplaces to recognise that careers do not always follow a straight line.
“Progress should not only be measured by how many women work or how far they rise, but whether women have genuine choices about work, and whether they have the support to make those choices, at every stage of their lives,” she said.
Lau pointed to the challenges women can face when returning after a career break. Some women send out numerous applications without receiving a response, while others are told that their experience no longer fits because they have been away from the workforce for too long.
“A career does not need to be uninterrupted, to be meaningful,” Lau said, adding that workplaces need to catch up with the realities of careers that may pause or change direction.
Flexible work and reskilling
The Government is strengthening support for marriage and parenthood, including additional childcare leave, while also encouraging employers to adopt a broader range of flexible work arrangements.
Lau said flexibility should extend beyond working from home to include staggered hours, part-time roles and job sharing.
These arrangements can help employees manage caregiving responsibilities or pursue further education without having to leave employment.
She also highlighted Career Conversion Programmes as a route for workers to retrain and move into roles with stronger longer-term prospects. Such programmes could be particularly relevant for women returning to work who may question whether their skills remain relevant after a career break.
The Government is also relying on workplace protections to support more inclusive employment. Lau noted that the Workplace Fairness Act, passed in 2025, prohibits discrimination on grounds including sex, caregiving responsibilities and pregnancy. A new Tripartite Standard on Preventing Workplace Harassment is also being developed.
Workplace culture remains a challenge
Lau said legislation and policy alone would not be enough to create fairer workplaces, pointing to findings from the Ministry of Manpower's 2023 Fair Employment Practices Survey.
Only about 29 per cent of employees who experienced workplace discrimination sought help, down from 35 per cent in 2022, according to the survey.
Lau said many employees remained silent because they feared being marginalised or concerned about the potential impact on their careers.
“Having the right protections on paper is not enough if people don’t feel safe using them,” she said.
Against this backdrop, the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) is launching a new Workplace Counselling and Support Service. The initiative will provide counselling and support to workers facing discrimination or harassment, while helping them understand their options and navigate possible next steps.
Lau said the service would complement existing workplace protections and broader efforts to create more supportive work environments.
Employers and families have a role
Lau also called on employers to ensure that flexibility does not carry an implicit career penalty.
She said the issue extends beyond workplace policy, with families also needing to share caregiving responsibilities more equitably. She highlighted the practical challenges of deciding who picks up children or takes leave when they are sick, noting that the primary caregiver can often carry a disproportionate share of the mental load.
“As our workforce ages, and take on caregiving duties at different life stages, our workplaces will need to evolve too,” she said.
Lau added that more inclusive workplaces could also benefit businesses by making it easier to attract and retain talent as Singapore's economy and workforce change.
Lau also highlighted SCWO's Women's Workforce Re-entry: Challenges, Barriers and Opportunities study, which examined the obstacles women encounter when seeking to return to employment.
Building on the study, SCWO is launching its first SCWO CoLab, aimed at testing and scaling ideas that can support women returning to work.
Lau said partnerships between government, employers and community organisations would be important in turning policy into practical support.
“Life does not always move in a straight line, and neither will our careers. A pause should not close doors,” she said.