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“Of course I want to work, but where can I find a job? I’m covered in tattoos, who would want [to hire] me?”
That was Ah Seng’s first reaction when asked if he was seeking employment in 2012. He was 48 and had just finished serving time in prison.
While living at Breakthrough Missions, a halfway house for drug addicts, a staff member introduced him to Jabez Tan, the founder of Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh.
For Ah Seng, that was the turning point of his life.
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Is it necessary to serve a 14-day stay-home notice (SHN) in a designated facility? Alyne Tamir, better known as Nas Daily’s girlfriend and the creator behind DearAlyne, seems to think otherwise.
In an Instagram story, which was shared on Reddit yesterday (Aug 26), the vlogger called it “two weeks of unnecessary government mandated quarantine across the street from [her] house”.
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SINGAPORE: Adjusting the Employment Pass and S Pass criteria to complement the measures available for businesses to expand and retain local employment is timely amid the COVID-19 economic fallout, said Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo on Thursday (Aug 27).
Speaking to reporters in a virtual press conference, Mrs Teo noted that the criteria for approving work passes are regularly updated, depending on the “prevailing conditions of the economy at the time”.
“The key shift is that we now see in the job market more slack. And the more slack is really a result of people having been put out of work because their companies have decided that it’s not possible for them to be retained,” sad the minister.
She also noted that there are people looking for alternative work as their working hours have been reduced.
“Yes, we have reopened the economy, but we also must recognise that the resumption of activities is quite uneven,” Mrs Teo said, adding that some sectors are experiencing manpower shortages compared to others.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced on Thursday that the minimum qualifying salary for new Employment Pass candidates will be raised by S$600 to S$4,500 from Sep 1, and the minimum qualifying salary for new S Pass applicants will also be raised by S$100 to S$2,500 from Oct 1.
The ministry also announced that S Pass jobs will be subject to the Fair Consideration Framework advertising requirement from October, to help promote greater awareness of vacancies in mid-skilled jobs among local job seekers.
The Jobs Support Scheme was launched to “try and retain as many people as possible in their current jobs”, but “counting on that alone is not going to be realistic”, said Mrs Teo.
This is why the Government introduced the Jobs Growth incentive to expand hiring and give companies that are still growing the confidence and resources to “do more” to recruit Singaporeans, added the minister.
“In this context, we have therefore assessed that it is timely to adjust the Employment Pass and S Pass criteria, in order to complement the suite of measures for businesses to expand and also retain their local employment, as well as to the local job seekers,” Mrs Teo said.
However, the raising of the minimum qualifying salaries for Employment Pass and S Pass holders “is not a call to employers to raise the salaries of their foreign employees”.
“That’s not the case at all. It is to recognise that in this environment, we would like the employers to be more selective and a way to nudge them to be more selective, is to raise the salary requirements,” Mrs Teo said.
Mrs Teo also acknowledged that single source concentration – where a company hires foreign employees from the same countries – is “a source of concern” for Singaporeans.
“They notice that in certain companies, certain departments, they notice that in certain industries, there is not enough of a spread of the country sources. And there are several reasons why we think it’s important that we try to prevent this over concentration,” she added.
For example, international borders could close due to the COVID-19 situation. “So if you have a very high concentration of persons from particular countries, you could have that situation where suddenly the borders close up and you find yourself in a very risky position.
“This is the same as how companies would seek to diversify their supply lines. They always try to make sure that they’re not sourcing from only one party.”
Adding that hiring a high concentration of foreign employees from one country can also affect “the fabric of society”, Mrs Teo said: “Singapore has always been multiracial, Singapore has always been multicultural and having that rich fabric is important.
“So when we have in certain companies or in certain industries a very high concentration of (people from) one (country), it doesn’t feel the same as what we have come to be familiar with about Singapore.”
EMPLOYMENT PASS HOLDERS IN FINANCIAL SERVICES
The Manpower Ministry also announced on Thursday that the minimum qualifying salary for Employment Pass holders in the financial services will be raised further to S$5,000 from Dec 1.
This is the first time the ministry is setting higher qualifying salaries for a specific sector.
“That really is to recognise the different salary norms in financial services, as well as the hiring capacity in financial services continuing to remain strong, and quite a reflection of the interest also and availability of locals that can do the jobs within the financial services sector,” said Mrs Teo.
“Of course in some cases they will need training support before they are able to be effective in those roles. And the reason why we are also raising the bar higher for the financial services sector is to complement the efforts by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to encourage and support financial institutions to strengthen their local pipeline.”
“NUDGE” EMPLOYERS TO GIVE LOCAL JOB SEEKERS FAIR CONSIDERATION
Addressing the extension of the job advertising requirements in the Fair Consideration Framework to S Pass applications, Mrs Teo noted that this was to ensure that positions “are made known” to interested local job seekers.
“We want to raise the awareness of local job seekers about these jobs’ availability, and we also want to nudge employers to give these local job seekers fair consideration in terms of their interest for the jobs,” she added.
Responding to questions about the possible impact of the raised minimum qualifying salaries on businesses, Mrs Teo said it is a “very valid concern”.
“You would see that we have tried to be more differentiated in our approach,” she added, noting that the new salary thresholds are only applicable to new applicants from September.
The requirement will “kick in considerably later”, from May 1, 2021, for Employment Pass and S Pass holders who want to renew their passes.
“That gives you time to adjust, that gives you time to respond, that gives you time to consider whether or not your existing pool is a pool that you want to keep, or by natural attrition of your EP and S Pass workforce, contracts sometimes come to an end, whether you want to right-size it,” said Mrs Teo.
“And then at the same time, also remember that we’re differentiating the increases, in the case of financial services we think that there is scope for us to raise it more, so that has gone up to a larger extent.”
The Government is also mindful that more small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) employers hire S Pass holders, she added. “So the move is calibrated, it’s an adjustment of S$100.”
Noting that it is “a good time” for businesses to look into their workforce composition of locals and Employment Pass and S Pass holders, Mrs Teo said: “With these changes, we would like to encourage businesses to re-examine how they complement each other, make the right set of changes that will enable them to continue to manage the businesses.”
When asked why the Government has decided to adjust the minimum qualifying salaries instead of making changes to the quotas and levies for foreign employees, the minister noted that the cuts in the S Pass sub-Dependency Ratio Ceiling for the services, construction, marine shipyard and process sectors will proceed as planned.
The S Pass sub-Dependency Ratio Ceiling sets out the maximum permitted ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce that a company is allowed to hire.
“So right now, where the sectors are already having to adjust a great deal to safe management measures, another change in the quota reductions that have already been announced, I think, is introducing a lot more uncertainty,” said Mrs Teo.
“Companies have also made plans, business decisions, on the basis of what they know of levies. And so to raise it right now, I think, is something that will weigh very heavily on them.”
RESPONSES TO MOM ANNOUNCEMENT
In a separate press release in response to the MOM announcement, the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) noted on Thursday that the new measures, on top of the earlier increases in minimum qualifying salaries implemented, will “likely lead to increased business costs”.
“While the measures will give greater push to some companies to localise jobs, those in sectors facing shortages of suitable local workers may have to pay higher salaries to the foreign workers that they need to retain.
“In addition, businesses will need time to adjust and localise jobs, including training and upskilling Singaporeans,” said the Federation.
CEO of SBF Ho Meng Kit said: “In the immediate term, this move may raise business costs. We would thus expect more employers to increase their efforts to look for locals and strengthen the Singaporean core, and we do hope for this outcome.”
“We also noted that there is a gap of wage and skills expectations that need to be bridged between employers and mid-career local (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) PMETs. Businesses can build up the local talent pool through training and upskilling, while retaining foreign manpower to complement these locals.”
NTUC assistant secretary-general Patrick Tay also responded to the MOM announcement with a statement on Facebook, adding that he was “glad that the Government has sent a strong signal for employers to ensure fair consideration and treatment of Singaporeans, especially in the current climate”.
Noting that the S Pass numbers are “on the rise”, Mr Tan added that he was “heartened” that MOM has broadened the scope of the Fair Consideration Framework to include S Pass applicants and implemented more stringent criteria in the job advertising requirements.
“While these measures and adjustments aim to help nudge employers to give Singaporeans a fair chance, fair consideration is fundamentally about mindsets,” he wrote.
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SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Thursday (Aug 27) said it supports the move by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to increase the minimum qualifying salary to S$5,000 for entry-level employment pass (EP) holders in the financial services sector.
The increase in salary will provide further support for hiring of Singaporeans in the financial services sector, said MAS.
On Thursday, MOM announced that the minimum qualifying salary for all EP candidates will be raised by S$600 to S$4,500 from Sep 1. For EP candidates in the financial services sector, this will be increased by a further S$500 to S$5,000 from Dec 1.
It is the first time the manpower ministry is setting higher qualifying salaries for a specific sector.
Qualifying salaries for older and more experienced EP candidates in the financial services sector will also be raised, with those in their 40s needing to met about double the minimum qualifying salary for the youngest applicants, said the manpower ministry.
For renewal applicants, the new salary criteria will come into effect from May 1, 2021.
“Salaries in the financial services sector have been consistently higher than in other sectors. The sector also continues to hire and has been attracting strong interest from local jobseekers with good qualifications,” MOM said.
MAS said it worked with MOM to determine the new minimum qualifying salary for those in the financial services sector, and took into account the higher local salary levels for those in the sector.
“The sector has continued to create jobs even in the current crisis, albeit with a smaller net increase of about 1,500 jobs in the first half of the year, with four out of five jobs going to Singapore citizens,” said MAS.
“While job creation will be slower in the second half of the year and could remain muted next year, the financial sector is well positioned to be an important source of job opportunities for Singaporeans in the years ahead.”
This “calibrated increase” in the minimum qualifying salary will allow financial institutions to complement their local workforce by “tapping on a global talent pool for the specialised skillsets that the financial sector needs”, said MAS.
These include employees in areas such as cyber security, machine learning, and full stack development, as well as expertise in new growth segments like green finance, pandemic risk insurance, and family offices.
Ms Jacqueline Loh, deputy managing director of markets and development at MAS, said: “The move towards the higher salary criteria for EP candidates complements MAS’ manpower development programmes to expand job opportunities and deepen local capabilities.
“A high quality workforce, with a strong Singaporean core complemented by EP holders with specialised skills, will best enable our financial services sector to compete internationally, and seize new growth opportunities as the Asian and global economies recover.”
CHANGES TO QUALIFYING SALARIES FOR S PASS
MOM also announced on Thursday that from October, the minimum qualifying salary for S Pass holders will be raised by S$100 to S$2,500, with qualifying salaries for older and more experienced S Pass candidates revised accordingly.
The changes will apply to renewal S Pass applicants from May 1, 2021.
MOM also said that it will also extend job advertising requirements under the Fair Consideration Framework to S Pass applications submitted from Oct 1, 2020. The minimum job advertising duration for EP and S Pass holders applications will be doubled from 14 days to 28 days from Oct 1.
“This will promote greater awareness of vacancies in mid-skilled jobs among local jobseekers, and also require employers to make greater efforts to consider local candidates,” said MOM.
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Nope, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. The coriander mooncake you see here is not a prank, unlike a few other companies that thought it’ll be a good April Fool’s joke.
Taiwanese coriander noodle brand Mr Coriander and Hong Kong bakery Qiu Xi has collaborated to create this special “healthy” mooncake. And it contains three types of cilantro in it.
While I’m sure we all are wondering how it tastes (or not), it apparently has a slight green tea flavour upon first bite. The taste then gives way to a burst of cilantro that’s balanced with a tad of sweetness.
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SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Thursday (Aug 27) announced a slew of changes to its foreign workforce policy, including raising the minimum qualifying salary for Employment Passes and S Passes for the second time this year and introducing a higher salary requirement for Employment Pass holders in the financial services sector.
The ministry also announced that S Pass jobs will be subject to the Fair Consideration Framework advertising requirement from October, in a bid to promote greater awareness of vacancies in mid-skilled jobs among local job seekers.
From September, the minimum qualifying salary for new Employment Pass candidates will be raised by S$600 to S$4,500. This is the second such increase this year – the salary criteria for new Employment Pass holders was raised by S$300 to S$3,900 in May, and before that, also by S$300 to S$3,600 in Jan 2017.
The qualifying salaries for older and more experienced Employment Pass candidates in their 40s will also be raised, remaining at around double the minimum qualifying salary for the youngest applicants, said MOM in a press release.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo said that the changes were made to continue to encourage fair hiring, particularly in the current economic climate.
“It’s important that Singapore remains an open and connected hub for international businesses, and we do value the contributions of foreign workforce because they do complement the local workforce in keeping Singapore an attractive host to investors from around the world,” said Mrs Teo.
“Still, we have to understand these Employment Pass and S Pass changes in the right context. They are updates that help to keep them current with the prevailing conditions, and also make sure that the policies remain responsive.”
HIGHER SALARY REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR
For the first time, the Manpower Ministry is also setting higher qualifying salary requirements for a specific sector – namely, the financial services industry.
“Salaries in the financial services sector have been consistently higher than in other sectors. The sector also continues to hire and has been attracting strong interest from local jobseekers with good qualifications,” said the Manpower Ministry.
As with other sectors, the new S$4,500 salary criteria for Employment Passes will take effect for the financial services industry in September.
However in December, the minimum qualifying salary for new Employment Pass applicants will be raised by another S$500 to S$5,000, said MOM.
Similarly, the qualifying salaries for older and more experienced Employment Pass candidates in the financial services sector will also be raised. Those in their 40s will need to meet about double the minimum qualifying salary for the youngest applicants.
“These changes will complement MAS’ (Monetary Authority of Singapore) efforts to encourage and support financial institutions in developing a strong local pipeline of talent,” said MOM.
For renewal Employment Pass applicants in all sectors – including financial services – these new salary criteria will be effective from May 1, 2021.
S PASS SALARY REQUIREMENTS RAISED
Regular revisions to the salary criteria for Employment Passes and S Passes in recent years have slowed the growth of such holders in Singapore, even as the economy expanded, said MOM.
For Employment Pass holders, the growth has fallen from an average of 13,000 annually in the first half of the last decade to less than 3,000 annually in the second half, said MOM.
Similarly for S Pass holders, the increase has come down from an average of 17,500 annually in the first half of the last decade to less than 6,000 annually in the second half, said MOM.
From October, the minimum qualifying salary for new S Pass applicants will also be raised by S$100 to S$2,500, with qualifying salaries for older and more experienced S Pass candidates revised accordingly, said MOM. The changes will apply to renewal S Pass applicants from May 1, 2021.
There will be no further changes to levies and quotas, and the previously announced cuts in the S Pass sub-Dependency Ratio Ceiling – which sets out the maximum permitted ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce that a company is allowed to hire – for the services, construction, marine shipyard and process sectors will proceed as planned, said MOM.
JOB ADVERTISING REQUIREMENTS EXTENDED
In another change, the job advertising requirements under the Fair Consideration Framework will be extended to S Pass applications submitted from October, announced MOM.
“This will promote greater awareness of vacancies in mid-skilled jobs among local jobseekers, and also require employers to make greater efforts to consider local candidates,” it said.
The minimum job advertising duration for Employment Pass and S Pass applications will also be doubled to 28 days from October, “to give local jobseekers more time to respond to job openings and for employers to seriously evaluate their applications”.
According to the Fair Consideration Framework, employers must first advertise jobs on MyCareersFuture.sg to make these positions known to local job seekers. Before submitting the applications, employers must have fairly considered all candidates. They should also be fair in their selection process and properly document the reasons for choosing a candidate over others, added the Manpower Ministry.
Noting that 90 employers had their work pass privileges suspended this year because of Fair Consideration Framework infringements, MOM said: “Employers are expected to take fair hiring seriously and give due consideration to local job applicants regardless of their age, gender and ethnicity.
“Discrimination against local job applications in favour of foreign applicants is especially unacceptable. Employers who practise discriminatory hiring in any form will have their work pass privileges cut back and may also face prosecution.”
EVALUATING APPLICATIONS
In evaluating Employment Pass and S Pass applications, the Manpower Ministry takes into account whether the employer has “kept up support” of local professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in their employment and “been responsive” to government efforts to help recruit and train more Singaporean PMETs.
The ministry will now give these considerations additional emphasis “given the uncertain economic times”.
This will serve to “remind all employers to play their part in building up their Singaporean workforce”, and “help sustain public support for a business-friendly work pass policy”, said MOM in the release.
Employers whose PMET workforce profiles suggest a bias against locals will be put on a watchlist, said the Manpower Ministry.
Earlier in August, MOM announced that 47 employers had been placed on its watchlist of companies believed to have discriminatory hiring practices, without naming the companies.
Most of them are from financial and professional services sectors, while the remaining come from a variety of sectors including those in administrative and support services, manufacturing and education firms as well.
Employment Pass and S Pass applications from companies on the watchlist will be subject to greater scrutiny, said MOM.
“We will engage an expanded group of employers to review their hiring practices, before they are placed on the watchlist,” said MOM.
“This expanded group will include firms whose Singaporean core has been weakening or whose EP and S Pass workforce are overly concentrated from a single source.”
Responding to questions about perceptions that the new raised minimum qualifying salary requirements could cause companies to cut wages for Singaporeans to pay higher salaries to foreign hires, Mrs Teo urged employers “not to think of it in those ways”.
“I would really urge the employers to consider the range of support the government has made available to them in order to be able to respond to this set of changes.”
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Stay in the know with a recap of our top stories today.
1. Hermes has a leather mahjong set selling for more than $50k in Singapore
While some might think twice about buying the set after looking at the $57,200 price tag, it can, however, be a worthy gift…. » READ MORE
2. Dee Kosh gets a warning by To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen
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With overseas travel restrictions in place across the world due to the coronavirus pandemic, our travel plans will just have to wait.
Unfortunately unlike other countries where citizens are still able to enjoy domestic travel to other states, we Singaporeans just don’t have that option.
But don’t lose hope yet, as there are upcoming recreational spaces that we can look forward to in the next one or two years.
While the pandemic may have blown over by then (fingers crossed), it helps to know that there are still new places we can explore on our little island.
Keppel Marina East
PHOTO: KeppelOn Aug 17, the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Facebook page announced an upcoming new recreational space in Marina East, specifically on the rooftop of the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant.
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Imagine, if you will, that you’re on the MRT train home and a young man toting a hefty plastic bag sits next to you. He casually takes out a watermelon — but a very weird one that has a lot of red buttons sticking out of it.
It’s some kind of weird bomb, you might think, considering the contraption’s shape and electronic components. But that brief thought goes away once you see the screen in the middle of the fruit turning on. The young man’s just playing Pokemon Emerald on the world’s first watermelon Game Boy.
But why would anyone do this? The correct question you should be asking is why not. Singapore Management University student Cedrick Tan is all about having random fun with tech that he can build by himself, judging from his YouTube channel.
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