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05-03-2024
SINGAPORE CITY: Singapore will raise the salary criteria for foreign executives and professionals that companies can hire starting next year, the government announced on Monday.
From January next year, foreigners must earn S$5,600 ($4,170) or more a month up from the current S$5,000 to qualify for the so-called employment passes typically granted to high-paid professionals.
Those in the financial sector will have the qualifying salary hiked to S$6,200 from S$5,500.
The manpower ministry said the move is meant to “ensure that EP (employment pass) holders are of high quality, and to maintain a level playing field for locals”.
The Southeast Asian financial hub has long been a popular location for foreign firms to base their regional headquarters, while foreign labor has been a thorny issue with the local population worried about competition for employment opportunities.
As of June last year, Singapore had 197,300 foreigners on employment passes out of a total foreign workforce of about 1.5 million. The country has a population of 5.9 million.
Since the pandemic hit in 2020, the salary floor for hiring foreigners have been raised three times with the previous adjustment – from S$4,500 to S$5,000 taking effect just in September last year.
($1 = 1.3426 Singapore dollars)
In March 2022, Singapore introduced a new work permit approval system for next year, its manpower minister said, amid concerns over a tight jobs market and calls to focus on training the local workforce.
The Southeast Asian financial hub has long been a popular location for foreign firms to base their regional headquarters. It hopes its new points-based system will ensure a “high quality diverse workforce” by using foreign talent that “complements” locals, Minister Tan See Leng told parliament
Foreign labor has long been a thorny issue in Singapore and pandemic-related job cuts and business closures have heightened concerns about employment opportunities among its local population.
The proportion of non-residents among Singapore’s 5.5 million population has increased from about 10% in 1990 to nearly 30% today, according to government statistics.
The new rules for so-called employment passes (EPs), which are typically granted to high-paid professionals, will take effect in September 2023. (Int’l News Desk)
