Singapore raises salary bar for foreign professionals

The government of Singapore said Monday that it will be increasing the pay requirements for foreign professionals and executives that businesses can recruit beginning in the following year.

Foreigners will need to make S$5,600 ($4,170) or more per month starting in January of next year, instead of the current S$5,000, in order to be eligible for the so-called employment passes that are normally given to highly compensated professionals.

The qualifying salary for those working in the financial sector will increase from S$5,500 to S$6,200.

“To ensure that EP (employment pass) holders are of high quality, and to maintain a level playing field for locals,” according to the manpower ministry, is the goal of the action.

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The Southeast Asian financial hub has long been a popular location for foreign firms to base their regional headquarters, while foreign labour 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.

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With inputs from Reuters