Many of the ideas and suggestions made at a recent Budget discussion to help older Singaporeans stay in the workforce would also apply to persons with disabilities (Budget roundtable throws up ideas to retain older workers, Feb 21).

Redesigned jobs, flexible work arrangements with fair pay and a dedicated job portal were among the suggestions that came up at the roundtable talk.

There are employable persons with disabilities looking towards contributing to the economy and more could be done to help them find employment.

Recently, Nominated MP Anthea Ong raised concerns in Parliament about the low proportion of persons with disabilities being employed.

As with older workers, jobs could be redesigned to leverage the abilities of employees who have disabilities, and flexible work arrangements be made.

For instance, telecommuting could be an alternative if a building or office is not physically accessible.

Also, work hours could be adjusted if the employee faces challenges commuting during peak hours.

This could increase the chances of persons with disabilities finding suitable employment, and becoming contributing members of the workforce.

We are encouraged that the Government has put in place various measures, such as the Open Door Programme and Special Employment Credit, to get employers to hire persons with disabilities.

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has also, earlier this year, suggested new tax incentives for employers of workers with disabilities.

As a voluntary welfare organisation that provides job matching and job support services to persons with disabilities, we have seen more employers willing to hire persons with disabilities, and hope that more will take advantage of the various schemes to do so.

We will continue to work closely with the Government and our community partners to see more of this happening.

Abhimanyau Pal

Chief Executive Officer

SPD