Job seekers in Singapore must pay attention to the brand new regulations recently introduced by the Singapore government. Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has announced a major change to its foreign employees policy by increasing the salary criteria for foreign managers and specialists that firms will give you the option to employ from next 12 months.
From January next 12 months, overseas jobseekers who typically receive an employment card (EP) may have to earn a minimum of A$5,600 ($4,170) a month, up from the present requirement of A$5,000. This qualifying salary may also step by step increase with age, reaching $10,700 for applicants of their 40s.
Financial sector employees will see their minimum qualifying salary increase to A$6,200 from the previous A$5,500. The minimum wage required for applicants of their 40s may also increase to $11,800.
Regarding the salary increase, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng stated that the minimum qualifying salary requirements required under the Employment (EP) card will step by step increase with age.
An ‘Employment Pass’ is a variety of visa issued to foreign professionals, managers and executives to work in Singapore. The minimum wage to qualify for Employment Pass (EP) is predicated on the highest third of local PMET1 wages, ensuring high standards for EP holders. Each 12 months, EP’s minimum qualifying salary is reviewed against these standards.
The revised and qualifying minimum wage will apply to recent Employment Card (EP) applications from 1 January 2025 and to extension applications from 1 January 2026.
As of June last 12 months, there have been roughly 197,300 Employment Card holders in Singapore and the whole foreign labor force in Singapore was roughly 1.5 million, representing almost 1 / 4 of the whole population.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the salary threshold for recruiting foreign employees has tripled, with the previous adjustment from S$4,500 to S$5,000 coming into effect in September last 12 months.
