Qualifying salary for employment pass to go up
Share AsiaOne
Sunday, Aug 14, 2011
SINGAPORE - In a move to allay job concerns among white-collar Singaporeans and boost their employment prospects, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced changes to qualifying salary for employment passes in his annual National Day Rally.
The qualifying salary levels for foreigners holding Employment Passes (EP) will be raised while educational qualifications for applicants will be made more stringent, said the Prime Minister on Sunday night.
Foreign professionals will soon face stiffer criteria to qualify for an employment pass, the Ministry of Manpower will give more details on the new measures at a later date.
RELATED STORIES
Highlights from National Day Rally
Have you say on NDR 2011
Singapore has been tightening up on foreign workers progressively through foreign workers' levy, and dependency ratios. "We will protect Singaporean workers, especially at lower end," Mr Lee said.
However he added, "We must be mindful especially of local SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), who often need foreign workers most. We will do our utmost to help SMEs adjust, including grants and tax deductions to help them upgrade productivity."
PM Lee also cautioned that the tightening on foreign workers does not mean Singaporeans will automatically get better jobs or higher pay, as Singaporeans are competing with workers all over the world.
In comparison, he said that China was producing 7 million graduates a year (double our citizen population) - 1.5 million in engineering and science alone.
And these fresh grads are competing furiously with one another in China. The impact will be felt worldwide over next 20 year.
Mr Lee said the only way for Singapore to meet challenge is to rise above this tidal wave of hungry, skilled labour, and to develop expertise and know how to do work that they have not yet learnt to perform.
Foreign-worker policies to be tightened
By Rachel Kelly | Posted: 14 August 2011 2216 hrs
SINGAPORE: The government will further tighten its policy on middle-income foreign workers, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday during his National Day Rally speech.
PM Lee said this was to address challenges at the workplace.
The measures include raising the salary thresholds for Employment Passes and tightening educational qualifications.
Details of the changes will be announced soon by the Ministry of Manpower.
Mr Lee said the ministry will work with tripartite partners to develop guidelines for fair and responsible recruitment and employment practices.
The change comes just a few months after the ministry raised qualifying salaries for foreign professionals and skilled workers.
Mr Lee said the issue in the middle-lower range arose because foreigners on Employment Pass work alongside Singapore's middle-level managers and executives
Mr Lee said Singapore may be seeing full employment, but Singa*poreans still worry about competition from foreigners.
"One polytechnic student asked me this very direct question," Mr Lee said.
"He said 'you know you have the S Pass for people who are one level above the work permits; why do you set the S Pass qualifying salary at S$1800?'
"Why did he ask me that question? Because really, what he meant was, S$1,800 is less than what many diploma holders are earning.
"Diploma holders earn more than that, so if you set the level there, we are going to be having people who are earning less than us, but competing against us. Why do you let the foreigner compete directly against me?
"And I understand those feelings, but we need some non-Singaporeans to complement the Singaporeans and to make up our short falls."
From July 1, 2011, to qualify for S Pass, applicants' monthly salaries have to be S$2,000 or more, up from S$1,800.
Similarly, the qualifying salary thresholds for Q1, P2, and P1 Passes were raised to S$2,800, S$4,000, and S$8,000 respectively.
Mr Lee added small and medium sized enterprises must also be taken into consideration, as they often need foreign workers the most.
He cautioned tightening on foreign workers does not mean Singaporeans will automatically get better jobs or higher pay, and that slowing down the inflow of foreign workers means accepting slower economic growth.
Mr Lee said Singapore must stay open to the world, attracting global winners to invest here, and with diverse teams creating jobs and prosperity for Singaporeans.
-CNA/wk
Share AsiaOne
Sunday, Aug 14, 2011
SINGAPORE - In a move to allay job concerns among white-collar Singaporeans and boost their employment prospects, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced changes to qualifying salary for employment passes in his annual National Day Rally.
The qualifying salary levels for foreigners holding Employment Passes (EP) will be raised while educational qualifications for applicants will be made more stringent, said the Prime Minister on Sunday night.
Foreign professionals will soon face stiffer criteria to qualify for an employment pass, the Ministry of Manpower will give more details on the new measures at a later date.
RELATED STORIES
Highlights from National Day Rally
Have you say on NDR 2011
Singapore has been tightening up on foreign workers progressively through foreign workers' levy, and dependency ratios. "We will protect Singaporean workers, especially at lower end," Mr Lee said.
However he added, "We must be mindful especially of local SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), who often need foreign workers most. We will do our utmost to help SMEs adjust, including grants and tax deductions to help them upgrade productivity."
PM Lee also cautioned that the tightening on foreign workers does not mean Singaporeans will automatically get better jobs or higher pay, as Singaporeans are competing with workers all over the world.
In comparison, he said that China was producing 7 million graduates a year (double our citizen population) - 1.5 million in engineering and science alone.
And these fresh grads are competing furiously with one another in China. The impact will be felt worldwide over next 20 year.
Mr Lee said the only way for Singapore to meet challenge is to rise above this tidal wave of hungry, skilled labour, and to develop expertise and know how to do work that they have not yet learnt to perform.
Foreign-worker policies to be tightened
By Rachel Kelly | Posted: 14 August 2011 2216 hrs
SINGAPORE: The government will further tighten its policy on middle-income foreign workers, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday during his National Day Rally speech.
PM Lee said this was to address challenges at the workplace.
The measures include raising the salary thresholds for Employment Passes and tightening educational qualifications.
Details of the changes will be announced soon by the Ministry of Manpower.
Mr Lee said the ministry will work with tripartite partners to develop guidelines for fair and responsible recruitment and employment practices.
The change comes just a few months after the ministry raised qualifying salaries for foreign professionals and skilled workers.
Mr Lee said the issue in the middle-lower range arose because foreigners on Employment Pass work alongside Singapore's middle-level managers and executives
Mr Lee said Singapore may be seeing full employment, but Singa*poreans still worry about competition from foreigners.
"One polytechnic student asked me this very direct question," Mr Lee said.
"He said 'you know you have the S Pass for people who are one level above the work permits; why do you set the S Pass qualifying salary at S$1800?'
"Why did he ask me that question? Because really, what he meant was, S$1,800 is less than what many diploma holders are earning.
"Diploma holders earn more than that, so if you set the level there, we are going to be having people who are earning less than us, but competing against us. Why do you let the foreigner compete directly against me?
"And I understand those feelings, but we need some non-Singaporeans to complement the Singaporeans and to make up our short falls."
From July 1, 2011, to qualify for S Pass, applicants' monthly salaries have to be S$2,000 or more, up from S$1,800.
Similarly, the qualifying salary thresholds for Q1, P2, and P1 Passes were raised to S$2,800, S$4,000, and S$8,000 respectively.
Mr Lee added small and medium sized enterprises must also be taken into consideration, as they often need foreign workers the most.
He cautioned tightening on foreign workers does not mean Singaporeans will automatically get better jobs or higher pay, and that slowing down the inflow of foreign workers means accepting slower economic growth.
Mr Lee said Singapore must stay open to the world, attracting global winners to invest here, and with diverse teams creating jobs and prosperity for Singaporeans.
-CNA/wk
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