Why Seniors Are Embracing Fractional Jobs Instead of Full Retirement

SINGAPORE: Before Mr Vipin Jain left his full-time job as a regional sales director in 2024, he hoped to become an "emeritus employee" of the multinational firm where he had worked for 15 years. Mr Jain, 65, wanted to continue contributing on a part-time basis by mentoring junior sales staff, doing horizon scanning of his industry and maintaining strategic relationships with customers and partners. Despite hitting Singapore's retirement age in 2023, he was not prepared to call it quits as he was healthy and wanted to pad his retirement savings while staying purposefully engaged. However, he also wanted a less taxing role. The "emeritus employee" concept, which would have meant redesigning Mr Jain's job and developing clear performance metrics for the new role, proved difficult to operationalise. Instead, he found what he was looking for at one of his ex-employer's long-standing partners. Stellent Networks was keen to tap his expertise and connections to expand their own business reselling measurement and testing equipment. He accepted their offer and moved into a fractional role, taking a pay cut in exchange for a more flexible workload. "It's about staying useful. I enjoy contributing where I can add value, without the intensity of a full-time role. This kind of arrangement makes that possible – for both sides," he said. He remains a "hardcore sales guy" who straddles operations and strategy, meeting customers and closing sales while also helping the business to explore new directions of growth. While he is free to work for other companies as long as there is no conflict of interest, he has preferred to use his spare time for exercise, mentoring university students and developing his own social impact project. As the resident workforce continues to age, fractional jobs like Mr Jain's are one solution that Singapore hopes more firms and employees will take up to improve the labour participation rate. The proportion of residents who are employed or looking for work has been on a steady decline, primarily because older people are making up a larger share of residents. That is why a tripartite workgroup on senior employment set up in 2025 has announced an initiative partnering with 32 organisations that are trialling solutions to support seniors who wish to contribute to the workforce. The aim of this partnership, also known as the Alliance for Action on Empowering Multi-Stage Careers for Mature Workers, is to scale up solutions that work. Fractional work is among the ideas it is exploring. Older fractional workers and their employers told CNA the arrangement is a win-win solution that meets their respective needs for flexible employment and for cost-efficient talent. But it is not a silver bullet. Fractional work primarily benefits highly skilled professionals and may leave out other groups of senior workers. It also does not tackle the roots of ageism and resistance to new workplace models. While fractional work may sound new, CNA spoke to several older workers who have been seeking out fractional work that allows them to continue growing their careers at a more sustainable pace. WHAT IS FRACTIONAL WORK? Fractional workers are hired for a "fraction" of the time and cost of a full-time employee. They divide their skills and time among multiple employers. Unlike part-time workers, they tend to be highly skilled professionals who take on leadership or strategic roles. Fractional workers are entitled to Central Provident Fund payments and annual leave, which may be prorated to their working hours. This is similar to part-time and contract workers. Depending on the company's policy, they may also be covered by group health insurance and receive performance-linked bonuses. The Fractional Directory, an online talent platform, further distinguishes fractional leaders from other types of highly skilled part-time roles. Unlike consultants and advisers, fractional leaders are fully integrated into the company and responsible for strategy and execution. They may manage people and their involvement is long-term. Mr Jain's employer, Stellent Networks, is a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) with a lean team operating across Singapore and the region. Its managing director Eugene Sng agreed that attracting and retaining skilled leaders is a challenge for many SMEs, unlike larger firms that can offer brand recognition and long-term career paths. "But we're also seeing many senior professionals who no longer want traditional roles – they want flexibility and meaningful impact. Fractional roles help bridge that gap," he said. "The challenge isn't just manpower – it's access to the right experience at the right time," he added. "We don't always need a full-time senior executive, but we do need strategic guidance, industry context and credibility in complex engagements." A fractional arrangement gives the firm that depth of expertise without adding permanent overhead costs, he said. HIGH EXPERTISE AT LOWER COST Fractional arrangements give SMEs access to deep expertise that would typically be beyond their budget, said a spokesperson for the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME). "Unlike project-based consultants, fractional leaders can handle issues over the long term, filling critical gaps quickly, guiding teams and introducing better governance. "It is a pragmatic approach for lean-running SMEs to raise their performance standards while remaining financially prudent." Fractional leadership is most effective in roles needing seasoned judgment rather than a full-time headcount, said the ASME spokesperson. Common fractional positions include finance and risk management, human resources and organisational development, and technology and digital transformation. There are also roles in marketing, operations, supply chain optimisation and strategy governance. ASME is partnering with the Alliance for Action to develop a fractional talent model for SMEs to engage senior professionals. Singapore is one of the most mature markets for fractional work in the region, with over 600 fractional leaders listed on the Fractional Directory, and demand is growing slowly but steadily, said its Singapore general manager Mark Mullinix. While adoption is still at an early stage, more companies, especially startups and SMEs, are integrating some form of flexible or fractional work into their talent strategies, he said. Their main motivations are flexibility and value, according to Mr Mullinix. "While hiring and termination are relatively easy in Singapore, recruitment, hiring and onboarding of full-time staff still have a significant cost in both time and internal resources.” Selecting and hiring a fractional leader can be significantly quicker, and the role can shift more quickly as the needs of the company evolve, he said. "On the value side, an experienced fractional leader specialises in entering a company and quickly adding value – the onboarding process is therefore faster and time to realise value from the investment is reduced." The investment required in a fractional leader is also lower than the salary of a full-time leader of equivalent experience, he added. CEO Bryan Lim said this fractional arrangement was not meant as a cost-saving measure, but made sense because Ms Chia's experience was relevant and the fractional model was what she proposed. "We reviewed the scope and agreed it could be carried out effectively," he said. "Most of our work is operational and requires full-time staffing. Wee Wee's role was one of the few that allowed for flexibility." Such arrangements remain the exception in BHS Global, where only one other senior position – chief commercial officer – is filled fractionally. Even as senior employees are among the talents the company wants to engage as it pursues internationalisation, Mr Lim said they are not "aggressively" expanding fractional arrangements for senior hires. "We are taking a cautious approach because these roles involve highly confidential information such as market developments and strategic initiatives," he said. Aside from confidentiality, other potential challenges are the unavailability of leaders at the correct times due to scheduling conflicts, and internal fairness and communication questions, said Mr Mullinix. These are issues that can and should be resolved upfront to avoid mismatched expectations, he said. The Fractional Directory, also a partner in the Alliance for Action, is running an integration programme to help employers overcome these challenges and design a recruitment process for fractional leaders. BHS Global's Mr Lim said that while the company is "warming up to the idea" of the fractional model, it still faces challenges in managing expectations. What was key was to ensure clarity on the scope and deliverables of the job as well as communication, said Mr Lim. "Once that was aligned, the arrangement worked smoothly." "Beyond this, some employees who are unfamiliar with fractional roles, especially in staff and management functions, find it challenging when responses are not immediate," he said. "For example, they may need to wait until the next working day when the fractional employee is scheduled to report." To get around this, Ms Chia said she and her team arrange their face-to-face meetings on the three days a week she is scheduled to be in the office. If urgent matters crop up on other days, the staff know they can still reach her and it is not the case that she will not take their calls because it is her day off, she said. "But they would generally be okay because we would have met each other three days a week in the office anyway," she added. She follows the "rule of no surprises" for any external engagements by seeking permission from BHS Global's management and showing them there is no conflict of interest. "Full transparency – they know what I'm doing, they know who I'm doing it with, and the kind of hours and demands it will take," she said. The company has even held her up as an example for other employees to follow in declaring their external engagements, she said. THE FINANCIAL REALITY On the workers' side, the primary challenge of fractional work is finding sufficient engagements, said the ASME spokesperson. Another aspiring fractional worker is Mr Ramana Boyani, 61, the former head of commercial in a multinational construction firm that closed its Singapore office in early 2025. Instead of taking up another full-time job with one employer, he chose to help SMEs in the construction industry get the most out of contract negotiations and train their staff in the best practices of contract management. This was informed by 25 years of negotiating deals for a large firm. He had long felt that smaller contractors were too "scared" to ask for better terms from his employer, the "big boy" in the room. Mr Boyani's challenge has been marketing himself to prospective companies. To do this, he started his own outfit, Contracts Mastery, and is on platforms like the Fractional Directory and WisdomCircle, which connect seasoned professionals with companies. He has been living on 5 per cent of his former five-figure salary for nine months. This is below his target of 20 per cent of his former salary. "Not everyone is prepared for that shift," said Mr Boyani. His financial stability allows him to stay on this path, since he does not have loans or big bills to pay. Although he offers a monthly retainer fee structure, his current assignments are ad hoc and he is paid a lump sum for each engagement. He does not receive CPF or group health insurance. "Compared to the comprehensive benefits I received as a full-time employee, this is perhaps the greatest sacrifice. As a fractional leader, I am responsible for securing my own insurance coverage and managing all personal medical expenses," he said. "It takes immense patience to keep going when the door doesn't open immediately," Mr Boyani added. But he is steadfast about his purpose: "My goal isn't wealth, it's providing value while covering my basic expenses." To do this, he has given himself a two-year runway and made backup plans. MINDSETS AND CULTURAL BARRIERS Among senior workers who seek flexibility, autonomy and meaningful contribution, there is a high level of acceptance for fractional arrangements, said the spokesperson. But normalisation is still held back by mindsets, such as being accustomed to traditional employment and worrying about security, prestige or the pricing of their services. Other hurdles are "a persistent cultural preference for full-time employment and the lack of a fully developed ecosystem in Singapore to match talent at scale", said the spokesperson. "Nevertheless, with tightening labour markets, rising business complexity, and a more senior talent pool, fractional work is poised to become a significant part of the talent landscape as SMEs seek to scale capabilities without increasing fixed costs." Fractional work caters primarily to highly skilled professionals, noted Dr Helen Ko, an expert on ageing issues. There is a large group of older professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) and lower-wage, lower-skilled workers who may not be able to benefit from such schemes, she said. As older workers are highly diverse in education level, gender, ethnicity and health, different schemes and strategies are needed to promote their inclusion in workplaces, she said. And while fractional work makes workplaces more inclusive for older workers to some extent, she stressed that their pay and benefits must also be commensurate with their skills. This includes invitations to company events, which should also be extended to older workers to promote inclusion, added Dr Ko. Ageism remains one of the greatest obstacles for older workers to remain or get employed, said the associate professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. "There is an assumption of a general decline of skills, abilities and performance among older workers, despite evidence suggesting this hypothesis to be inaccurate," she said. These negative stereotypes are accompanied by unfair treatment that significantly influences older workers' decisions to continue working or retire. "Studies have also found that even human resource managers responsible for age-related policies hold stereotypical views of older workers," she said. Company management must therefore be committed to dispelling these negative views in order to facilitate the retention of older workers, said Dr Ko. A NEW LEASE OF LIFE Ms Chia's fractional role is now her main source of income, enabling her to work on other pursuits. The self-professed "logistics nerd" also edits trade publication Value Chain Asia and founded a trade association called the International Trade Trust & Compliance Network. "In a typical work week, I have three things that keep me engaged. And I feel that in all three things, I can learn and I can contribute at the level that feels sustainable," she said. Her work now takes her beyond her usual domain of logistics, as she has also had to quickly get up to speed on the semiconductor industry to work at BHS Global. "Everything that I do currently at this stage of my life, it fits really well to keep engaged, to contribute, to be learning," she said. Mr Boyani and Mr Jain similarly relish the changes that fractional work has brought to their lives as seniors. Retirement remains far from their minds. "My life has become very disciplined and also very slowed down," said Mr Boyani, who has more time for his family and for exercise. He now takes long walks in the morning, during which he sometimes sees people running to catch the bus to work. "Some time back, I was there like that, I was running like that. But now I'm a free man. I have a different mission, I have my own mission," he said.