Skip to main content
About us

Oral Answer to PQ on Foreign workforce and PMET job uncertainty

NOTICE PAPER 116 OF 2025 FOR A SITTING ON OR AFTER 14 OCTOBER 2025
QUESTION NO. 517 FOR ORAL ANSWER
 
MP: Ms Gho Sze Kee

To ask the Minister for Manpower in view of the growing uncertainty in the jobs market and the challenges faced by recent tertiary graduates, whether there are plans to review and recalibrate the foreign manpower mix to provide Singapore’s local workforce with better opportunities, particularly at entry and mid-level PMET positions.

Answer:

1. MOM constantly reviews our foreign workforce policies to ensure that our foreign workforce is complementary, and that Singaporeans would continue to have access to good job opportunities. The updates are done annually, with key changes announced at MOM’s Committee of Supply. For instance, we regularly update our Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass qualifying salaries to keep pace with local wage growth and avoid undercutting local salaries. New EP applicants aged 23 years old must earn at least $5,600 to qualify. This is significantly above the median wage of our fresh graduates. We also refresh the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) for EP applications annually, keeping in line with market conditions. For example, we will add or remove occupations on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) based on industry shortages, and industries’ efforts to develop the local pipeline.

2. We strike a careful balance when reviewing these policies. We need to provide businesses sufficient access to talent so that we can continue to maintain Singapore’s global competitiveness. In particular, foreign professionals help to attract foreign investments and multinational corporations (MNCs) that create a large number of good jobs for Singaporeans. While foreign-owned companies account for about 20% of all companies in Singapore, they employ one-third of the resident workforce, and this includes our fresh graduates as well. Foreign firms also create business for local firms, who in turn create jobs for Singaporeans.

3. MOM will continue to review our policies holistically, and we will continue to invest heavily in our local workforce, to support Singaporeans across all economic climates.