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Upon approval of the five-year EP, the employment of the EP holders will be restricted to the specific shortage occupation.
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has affirmed that checks and balances will be in place to ensure no abuse of the five-year Employment Pass for experienced tech professionals with skills that are in shortage. These will include checks at both the application stage and once the pass holder has started working, Manpower Minister Dr. Tan See Leng has shared.
The minister was responding to a recent Parliamentary question on the process of assessing the level of tech capabilities and competencies of applicants for this pass.
At the application stage
As shared by Minister Tan, at the application stage, MOM has worked with the Infocomm Media Development Authority on the verification requirements to ensure that applicants have the skills required to perform their respective tech roles based on the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) Shortage Occupation List (SOL).
The verification requirements include whether the applicant possesses relevant qualifications and work experience for the particular tech role. Submitted qualifications will also need to be verified by background screening companies, to demonstrate that they are authentic and awarded by accredited institutions.
Once the pass holder has started working
Next, upon approval of the five-year EP, the employment of the EP holders will be restricted to the specific shortage occupation. If the employer intends to deploy the EP holder to a different job role, a new EP application must be submitted and the EP eligibility will be reassessed accordingly.
Minister Tan added that MOM will also conduct random audit checks and investigate cases surfaced by whistle-blowers, to identify EP holders who are not performing the role specified in their application.
Overall, MOM stressed that it takes a stern view of employers who attempt to submit fraudulent information in work pass applications, and will impose stiff penalties on offenders.
In the same vein, responding to a separate Parliamentary query, Minister Tan noted that MOM also regularly works with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to evaluate occupations for the COMPASS SOL based on three criteria:
- the importance of the occupation to Singapore’s economic priorities,
- the degree and nature of labour shortage, and
- the sector’s commitment to developing the local pipeline to address these shortages.
The degree and nature of labour shortage for each occupation will be assessed based on a set of quantitative indicators, taking into account data on vacancies that were unfilled for at least six months from MOM’s Job Vacancy Survey (JVS), and the ratio of job applicants to vacancies from the MyCareersFuture job portal.
The JVS also provides the underlying reasons why these vacancies were hard to fill by locals. When identifying occupations for the SOL, MOM focused on vacancies that were hard to fill due to a lack of specialised skills among the local workforce, Minister Tan shared.
Such quantitative indicators are only one part of a holistic assessment across the three criteria. They are also supplemented by qualitative input from the relevant sector agencies and feedback from industry and tripartite partners, including on the sector’s commitment to developing the local pipeline to address these shortages.
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