SINGAPORE: Singapore will pay nurses up to S$100,000 (US$74,000) over 20 years as part of a long-term plan to keep them in the workforce as the city-state grapples with an ageing population and increasing pressure on hospitals.
About 29,000 nurses in the publicly funded healthcare system will be eligible under the new retention plan, in which they would receive payouts over a 20-year period, or up to the prevailing retirement age, whichever is earlier, health minister Ong Ye Kung said in a speech Tuesday.
The benefits are also open to foreign nurses after they have served four years in the country’s public healthcare sector.
Nurses are in short supply in Singapore, especially after the higher-than-usual attrition of foreign nurses during the Covid-19 years, Ong said.
Ong also said the government would be reviewing the competitiveness of other healthcare professions and make adjustments to remuneration packages as necessary.