Singapore has announced its plan to raise the salary criteria for foreign executives and professionals that companies can hire starting next year.
Starting January 2025, foreigners seeking employment passes (EP), typically reserved for well-paid professionals, will need to earn at least 5,600 Singapore dollars per month, an increase from the current requirement of 5,000 Singapore dollars.
Furthermore, the qualifying salary will continue to increase progressively with age, up to $10,700 for a candidate in their mid-40s to maintain a level playing field for locals across all age groups.
The ministry of manpower said that the move is aimed at ensuring that the employment pass holders are of high quality. “Support industry transformation to achieve a more productive, manpower lean foreign workforce and create better jobs for locals; and uplift lower-wage workers and maintain the effectiveness of foreign workforce controls,” a statement from the ministry read.
The Southeast Asian financial hub has been a popular choice for foreign companies to establish their regional headquarters. However, the presence of foreign workers has raised concerns amongst the local population regarding competition for job opportunities.
As of June last year, Singapore had more than 1 lakh 97 thousand foreigners on employment passes out of a total foreign workforce of about 1.5 million. The country has a population of 5.9 million.
The revised EP qualifying salary will apply to new EP applications from January 1, 2025, and to renewal applications from January 1, 2026 to provide businesses more time to adjust to the changes.
