{"id":14174,"date":"2025-12-08T18:40:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/?p=14174"},"modified":"2025-12-08T18:40:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:40:34","slug":"from-contract-work-to-contract-for-work-is-2026-the-year-more-people-opt-for-the-latter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/from-contract-work-to-contract-for-work-is-2026-the-year-more-people-opt-for-the-latter\/","title":{"rendered":"From Contract Work To Contract For Work: Is 2026 The Year More People Opt For The Latter?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite an increase in hiring confidence in 2025, more employers were still relying more on contract, part-time and flexible talent. The recent Hiring, Compensation and Benefits 2025 report from Jobstreet by SEEK<\/a> revealed that about 31% of employers were looking to hire on a contract basis, up from 15% in 2024. Contract work, rather than offering permanent roles, is seen as a shift towards a more agile workforce model. However, there may be some confusion between contract work (also known as contract of service) and contract for work (also known as contract for service).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, contract work is short-term, often task-based employment \u2013 effectively doing the same job as most permanent staff, but with a fixed duration (such as 1 to 2 years). Contract for work, or contract for service, is project-based, often with a clear deliverable, and is taken on by independent contractors, typically freelancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From an employer\u2019s perspective, some might prefer to hire under a contract of service, especially if they anticipate needing to cut headcount in the near future, without worrying about severance payouts. Companies with contract and temporary staff can choose not to renew their contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Also: Contract of Service VS Contract for Service: What\u2019s The Difference Between These Two “Employment” Relationships?<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contract Of Service VS Contract For Service<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to the Ministry of Manpower, a contract of service is an agreement between an employer and an employee that must include key employment terms (KETs) and specify the hours of work and the job scope. Such a contract is usually covered by the Employment Act, which is Singapore\u2019s main labour law. In such an arrangement, your employer should contribute to your CPF account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A contract for service involves an independent contractor who performs work for others. This means you can negotiate the price of your goods and services and are financially liable if you fail to fulfil your contract obligations. You can control your own hours of work under the contract and ultimately accept or refuse work from the payer. However, you are not entitled to any further benefits from the payer, and you are required to contribute to your CPF Medisave account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is technically no single conclusive test to distinguish a contract of service (an employment contract) from a contract for services. However, if you are under the management control of a platform operator, then you fall under the purview of a new labour law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Platform Workers Act Creates A Third Model<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since 1 January 2025, the new Platform Workers Act protects workers under recognised platform operators. Platform operators recognised by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) include ride-hailing services such as Grab, Gojek, and TADA, and delivery services such as Deliveroo, FoodPanda, and Amazon. Under the new Platform Workers Act, operators must provide work injury compensation and make CPF contributions for platform workers they manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platform workers don\u2019t fall under the \u201ccontract for service\u201d model, since they can\u2019t determine how much they are paid for each task, and do not have complete control over which tasks they can perform (i.e. platform workers are typically penalised if they cancel tasks without good reason).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, unlike employees under a \u201ccontract of service\u201d, platform workers can independently decide the days and hours they wish to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Workforce Has Evolved Over The Past Three Years<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Based on the Labour Force in Singapore 2024 report, permanent employees made up 90.1% of employees in 2024, which is one of the highest levels in the past decade. However, there was a notable increase in fixed-term contract employees between 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Source: Labour Force in Singapore 2024<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise in fixed-term contract employees was most notable among those aged 15 to 24 years, going from 25.4% in 2023 to 29.3% in 2024. However, the proportion of fixed-term contract employees stayed relatively stable for the other ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the COVID pandemic, the number of \u201cown account\u201d workers has dropped from a peak in 2022. These include platform workers such as taxi drivers, private-hire car drivers and delivery workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Source: Labour Force in Singapore 2024<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the statistics, there were only 201,100 residents who did \u201cown account work\u201d, whether as their main job and livelihood (primary own account workers), or as a side hustle (secondary own account workers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the possibility of it taking over roles that have repetitive tasks, companies may be looking less for contract work arrangements and more at contract for work. However, based on 2024\u2019s statistics, workers seem more inclined to look for full-time jobs rather than choose to become \u201cown account workers\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Also: Traineeship VS Internship: The Differences Between The Two, Pros And Cons<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is a difference between a contract of service, a contract for service, and a platform work agreement.\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":14177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[364],"tags":[1105,1104,400,2002,1593,2148],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Contract Work To Contract For Work: Is 2026 The Year More People Opt For The Latter? | DollarsAndSense Business<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/from-contract-work-to-contract-for-work-is-2026-the-year-more-people-opt-for-the-latter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Contract Work To Contract For Work: Is 2026 The Year More People Opt For The Latter? 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