Foreign workers in Singapore complement the local workforce to grow the economy and add diversity to its skillsets. As at December 2023, over 1.5 million foreigners were working in Singapore.
While this represents about 40% of Singapore’s total workforce, there are stringent restrictions placed on foreigners who want to come to Singapore for work.
This is guided by the different types of work passes that foreign workers can come here to work on, as well as having quota restrictions. The most common work passes that businesses can apply to bring in their foreign workforce include Work Permits, S Pass and Employment Pass (EP).
Read Also: Guide To Work Passes In Singapore: Work Permits, S Pass and Employment Pass (EP)
Quota Restrictions For Employment Pass (EP) Holders
There are no quota restrictions or foreign worker levies for Employment Pass (EP) holders in Singapore. Workers holding an EP tend to be more highly skilled foreign professionals, managers and executives.
Instead of applying a quota on the number of EPs a business can employ or charging a levy, the government controls the quality of such employees by setting a qualifying salary – set at the top one-third of local PMET salaries.
Qualifying salaries start from $5,600 and increase progressively with age, up to $10,700 for those aged 45 and above.
| Age | EP qualifying salary (before 2025) (except financial services sector) | Revised EP qualifying salary from 2025 (except financial services sector) |
| 23 or below | $5,000 | $5,600 |
| 24 | $5,250 | $5,832 |
| 25 | $5,500 | $6,064 |
| 26 | $5,750 | $6,295 |
| 27 | $6,000 | $6,527 |
| 28 | $6,250 | $6,759 |
| 29 | $6,500 | $6,991 |
| 30 | $6,750 | $7,223 |
| 31 | $7,000 | $7,455 |
| 32 | $7,250 | $7,686 |
| 33 | $7,500 | $7,918 |
| 34 | $7,750 | $8,150 |
| 35 | $8,000 | $8,382 |
| 36 | $8,250 | $8,614 |
| 37 | $8,500 | $8,845 |
| 38 | $8,750 | $9,077 |
| 39 | $9,000 | $9,309 |
| 40 | $9,250 | $9,541 |
| 41 | $9,500 | $9,773 |
| 42 | $9,750 | $10,005 |
| 43 | $10,000 | $10,236 |
| 44 | $10,250 | $10,468 |
| 45 or above | $10,500 | $10,700 |
The qualifying salary criteria for the financial services sector requires EP holders to earn at least $6,200 a month, and up to $11,800 for those aged 45 and above. The increments follow a similar trajectory to the table above.
Furthermore, EP holders will also have to pass COMPASS, a points-based system to help you access talent from around the world. COMPASS, or complementarity assessment framework, comprises 6 attributes: C1) Salary; C2) Qualifications; C3) Skills Bonus (shortage occupations list); C4) Diversity; C5) Support for local employment; and C6) Strategic Economic Priorities Bonus.
There are further restrictions, including requiring employers to advertise roles on the MyCareersFuture website, under the Fair Consideration Framework.
Quota Restrictions For S Pass Holders
The minimum qualifying salary criteria for S Pass holders is $3,150 a month and up to $4,650 for those aged 45 and above. For S Pass holders in the financial services sector, the minimum qualifying salary is $3,650 and increases progressively with age, up to $5,650 for those 45 and above.
These qualifying salary criteria are also slated to go up to $3,300 (for all other sectors) and $3,800 (for the financial services sector) in 2025 for new applications and 2026 for renewals..
| Sector | From 1 Sep 2023 for renewals | From 1 Sep 2023 for new applications / From 1 Sep 2024 for renewals | From 1 Sep 2025 for new applications / From 1 Sep 2026 for renewals |
| All (except financial services) | $3,000 (increases progressively with age from age 23, up to $4,500 at age 45 and above) | $3,150 (increases progressively with age from age 23, up to $4,650 at age 45 and above) | At least $3,300 (to be finalised) |
| Financial services | $3,500 (increases progressively with age from age 23, up to $5,500 at age 45 and above) | $3,650 (increases progressively with age from age 23, up to $5,650 at age 45 and above) | At least $3,800 (to be finalised) |
Unlike E Pass (EP) holders, the number of S Pass holders a business can hire is also limited by a quota. This is because S Pass holders are mid-level skilled employees. Also unlike hiring EPs, businesses must pay a foreign worker levy when they hire S Pass holders.
Quotas or sub-dependency Ratio Ceilings (DRCs) are also different, based on your business activity. This is capped as a percentage of your workforce:
- 10% for Services sector
- 15% for Manufacturing Construction, Marine Shipyard and Process sectors
Companies that want to hire foreign workers will also have to pay all their local employees the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) of $1,600 from July 2024 onwards.
This means that businesses can no longer hire any foreign workers if they continue to pay a portion of their full-time local employees less than $1,600.
Read Also: Local Qualifying Salary: 5 Things You Need To Know About LQS
Depending on the percentage of foreign workforce in your business, you also have to pay a levy of either $330 or $650. If foreign employees make up 10% of your workforce, you are required to pay a monthly levy of $330 for each S Pass holder. However, if S Pass holders exceed 10% of your workforce, you have to pay $650 for each S Pass employee.
| Tier | Quota % | Monthly levy rate |
| Basic / Tier 1 | Services sector: Up to 10% of the total workforce | $550 |
| Basic / Tier 1 | All sectors (excluding Services sector): up to 10% of the total workforce | $550 |
| Tier 2 | All sectors (excluding Services sector): Above 10% to 15% of the total workforce | $650 |
Tier 1 levy will also be raised to $550 to $650 from 1 September 2025.
There may be other requirements as well that businesses have to take note of when hiring S Pass holders, such as having to buy and maintain medical insurance as long as they are under your employment.
Read Also: 4 Types Of Companies Most Affected By The Latest Changes To Employment Pass & S Pass Rules
Quota Restrictions For Work Permit Holders
Only businesses in the Construction, Manufacturing, Marine Shipyard, Process or Services sectors can apply for work permits for their foreign workforce. Quotas for work permit holders can also be much more complicated, and you can refer to this guide for how to calculate your quota and levy bill on the MOM website.
In addition, all work permit holders can only work up to 60 years of age. There may also be a restriction on the maximum number of years workers from each source country can work in Singapore.
Levies are also used to control the number of foreign workers that a business chooses to employ. At the same time, varying levy prices are charged to encourage businesses to hire higher-skilled work permit holders or upskill their work permit holders.
Approved Sources for eligible business sectors:
| Eligible Business Sectors | Approved Sources |
| Construction Marine Shipyard Process | – Malaysia – China – Non-Traditional Source (NTS) India Sri Lanka Thailand Bangladesh Myanmar Philippines – North Asian Sources (NAS) Hong Kong Macau South Korea Taiwan |
| Manufacturing Services | – Malaysia – China – North Asian Sources (NAS) Hong Kong Macau South Korea Taiwan |
Different criteria may also apply to the different sectors:
Construction Sector
Eligible businesses can hire 5 work permit holders (WPH) or S Pass holders for every local employee who earns at least $1,600 per month (i.e. the Local Qualifying Salary). Note that from July 2024, businesses will have to pay all local employees the Local Qualifying Salary of $1,600 to be eligible to hire any foreign workers.
Lower levy rates also apply to incentivise companies to hire higher-skilled workers and for adopting more productive technologies such as Design for Manufacturing & Assembly (DfMA) for off-site construction.
| Source Country or Region / Tier | Monthly Levy Rates |
| NTS – Higher-skilled | $500 |
| NTS – Basic-skilled | $900 |
| Malaysia, NAS, PRC – Higher-skilled | $300 |
| Malaysia, NAS, PRC – Basic-skilled | $700 |
| Off-site Construction – Higher-skilled | $250 |
| Off-site Construction – Basic-skilled | $370 |
Process Sector
Eligible businesses can hire 5 work permit holders for every local employee who earns at least $1,600 per month. Again, from July 2024, businesses will have to pay all local employees the Local Qualifying Salary of $1,600 to be eligible to hire any foreign workers.
Lower levy rates also apply to incentivise companies to hire higher-skilled workers.
| Source Country or Region / Tier | Monthly Levy Rates |
| NTS – Higher-skilled | $300 |
| NTS – Basic-skilled | $650 |
| Malaysia, NAS, PRC – Higher-skilled | $200 |
| Malaysia, NAS, PRC – Basic-skilled | $450 |
Marine Shipyard Sector
Eligible businesses can hire 3.5 work permit holders for every local employee who earns at least $1,400 per month. Similarly, from July 2024, businesses will have to pay all local employees the Local Qualifying Salary of $1,600 to be eligible to hire any foreign workers.
A monthly levy of between $300 to $400 has to be paid for each S Pass holder, depending on their source country and skill level (basic-skilled or higher-skilled).
Services Sector
Services sector refers to:
- Financial, insurance, real estate, infocomm and business services
- Transport, storage and communications services
- Commerce (retail and wholesale trade)
- Community, social and personal services (excluding domestic workers)
- Hotels
- Restaurants, coffee shops, food courts and other approved food establishments (excluding food stalls or hawker stalls)
Eligible businesses can hire work permit holders to comprise up to 35% of your total workforce. Employees that comprise your total workforce are those who earn at least $1,600 per month. Once again, from July 2024, businesses will have to pay all local employees the Local Qualifying Salary of $1,600 to be eligible to hire any foreign workers.
A month levy of between $300 to $800 has to be paid for each S Pass holder, depending on the number of Work Permit holders in your business and their skill level (basic-skilled or higher-skilled).
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