Emerging from COVID-19: Singapore’s Response to the Global War for Talent

In the second of this two-part blog series, Partner Dalia Wong continues her examination of Singapore’s immigration policy, specifically focusing on the country’s response to COVID-19 and the pandemic’s effects on the global search for talent.

COVID-19’s Effects on Immigration in Singapore

The COVID-19 pandemic hit global trade and investment at an extraordinary speed and scale. During the last two years, the Singapore government (like many other countries) had to implement and adjust border controls to safeguard its residents from COVID-19. As Singapore’s economy relies heavily on global trade and investments, the government also had to step in to help businesses and local workers through this challenging period by providing multiple financial stimulus packages. While the Singapore government has said that its priority is to save jobs, the nature of jobs will change. Therefore, notwithstanding the financial stimulus, in the mid and longer term, local workers must also (continually) train and upskill themselves to remain competitive in this age of digitalization. To tackle unemployment, the Singapore government also worked with companies to ensure that Singaporeans have access to work opportunities, and that MOM will be watching the hiring practices of companies to ensure that they comply with FCF.

Policy Enhancements to Strengthen Singapore’s Global Position

In order for Singapore to not only retain but also strengthen its position as a global hub for talent and to attract tech talent in areas of skills shortages, the government recently announced (in August 2022) talent attraction schemes and manpower policies to entice top talent who can develop deep capabilities in Singapore with the aim of achieving the right mix of local and foreign talent. 

One such enhancement is the introduction of a new Overseas Networks & Expertise (ONE) Pass which is a signature pass for top talent across sectors (comparable to the top 5% of employment pass holders today) whose deep skills and expertise can help Singapore grow. The ONE Pass will be launched in January 2023 and, unlike the regular EP, has greater benefits, such as a longer duration of five years and the flexibility of taking multiple roles in Singapore. Furthermore, the spouses of ONE Pass holders can also apply and work on a Letter of Consent (the LOC was in recent times removed for dependents of employment pass holders). To be sure that ONE pass holders utilise the flexibilities accorded to contribute meaningfully to Singapore, MOM will closely engage these pass holders during their time in Singapore.

In response to the global shortage of experienced technology professionals and in line with Singapore’s continued efforts to develop local tech talent, as of September 2023, MOM is also offering the option of a five-year employment pass to those who fill specific tech occupations on the COMPASS Shortage Occupation List. However, individuals must also meet other qualifying criteria.

Another enhancement included a new (single) benchmark pegged to the top 10% of employment pass holders where the salary exemption for the FCF job advertising requirement and COMPASS will be raised from $20,000 to $22,500 and, similarly, the minimum salary requirement for the Personalised Employment Pass will be raised to $22,500.

These changes will be implemented as of September 2023. Finally, other enhancements announced were the reduction of the FCF job advertising requirement given the strong recovery of the labour market as well as the reduction of the processing time for employment pass applications.

Cycling Ahead

The changes in Singapore’s immigration policies over the last 20 years highlight the Singapore government’s infinite cycle of tuning and fine-tuning in response to global events and socio-economic factors. Fragomen is proud to have witnessed and to have been a part of the past 20 years of these calibrations and re-calibrations of Singapore’s immigration landscape and partnering and supporting our clients in navigating these changes.  

Need to know more?

For further information, please contact Partner Dalia Wong at [email protected]. This blog was published on 27 October 2022, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 site, subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.