Job Redesign efforts are crucial in the Community Care sector, due to the growing elderly population and decrease in the active workforce ratio in Singapore. This has also resulted in higher pressure and expectations on Support Care roles.
Demographic and social shifts
There is a greater demand for Community Care due to:
- An ageing population with increasing life expectancy
- Shrinking family sizes
- An increase in single-elder households
The reliance on family as the sole, primary caregivers has become unsustainable.
Workforce Challenges
Singapore’s competitive labour market and the need to reduce reliance on foreign workers has prompted employers to re-think their attraction and retention strategies for local talent, as well as to consider alternative talent pools.
- Overall demand for support care staff (SCS) will double by 2030, but the local share is expected to decrease over time
- SCS comprise close to half of the workforce in the Community Care sector (i.e. ~47% as of end-2020)
It is critical to develop a multi-skilled workforce to bend the demand for support care, nursing and therapy manpower. The industry also needs to become more appealing and sustainable to meet the needs of the local community and ensure sufficient care for the elderly. With that in mind, AIC embarked on a sectoral-wide Job Redesign initiative with the following objectives:
Create value added care roles
Develop a career pathway and salary structure
Attract, develop and retain local support care talents
Successfully scaled up redesigned care roles sector-wide