EP Criteria gonna tighten up a whole lot more at the Q & EP2

[sundaymorningstaple]

EP Criteria gonna tighten up a whole lot more, especially at the entry "Q" level and probably a corresponding increase at the EP2 level.

http://www.reach.gov.sg/YourSay/Discuss ... 1909%5D%5D

[nakatago]

I can see middle and upper managers frantically revising their staffing plans and midterm plans now...

[AngMoG]

Still no details though... it appears the gov is trying to tread carefully.

Maybe they are going to include Q1 in S-Pass quota?

[Sergei82]

Goodbye 24-hour Starbucks!

[Wd40]

The news is 2 months old. But yeah, very relevant.

[bgd]

This will be interesting to watch.

With the revised PEP salary levels hitting in Dec the EP safety net might be no longer available to many.

[Wd40]

This will be interesting to watch.

With the revised PEP salary levels hitting in Dec the EP safety net might be no longer available to many.

Its next year's December. Still 1 Yr and 7 1/2 months to go. Thats long way away.

[bgd]

You are correct. I had read it has 2013 but it is in fact 2014. That gives more breathing space.

[zzm9980]

Goodbye 24-hour Starbucks!

Because the employees are on EP2 and Q? Or the frequent customers are? I'll be awfully sad if they close the one at Big Splash. I like having 5am conference calls there

[zzm9980]

Its next year's December. Still 1 Yr and 7 1/2 months to go. Thats long way away.

I can't imagine most employees who doesn't already qualify for a P1 (8k/month) making up that income gap to PEP (12k/month) in even that much time. IT's a 50% increase on base pay. That's not going to happen.

[zzm9980]

[quote]From July, Singaporean employees of such firms will need to earn at least S$1,000 a month —

[Wd40]

Its next year's December. Still 1 Yr and 7 1/2 months to go. Thats long way away.

I can't imagine most employees who doesn't already qualify for a P1 (8k/month) making up that income gap to PEP (12k/month) in even that much time. IT's a 50% increase on base pay. That's not going to happen.

I agree, but thats not what I meant when I said thats a long way away.
I meant 1 yr 7 1/2 months is a long enough time to relax for the time being and then plan for future, may be to get your act together and find a company that will file a regular EP or to make alternative plans to move to other locations, if you cant really get an EP towards the end of it.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I can almost guarantee that it's going to ramped up well before 2014. Just like the schedule for increases in the S pass levies. They were not supposed to increase until this past January, but wham! 1 Sept an increase at short notice followed by another on 1 January. You are only kidding yourself if you think that is giving you breathing space. If you are far, far away from the next level, e.g., just past the goalposts, I reckon you ought to be making plan b's for when your next renewal comes up.

[Wd40]

I can almost guarantee that it's going to ramped up well before 2014. Just like the schedule for increases in the S pass levies. They were not supposed to increase until this past January, but wham! 1 Sept an increase at short notice followed by another on 1 January. You are only kidding yourself if you think that is giving you breathing space. If you are far, far away from the next level, e.g., just past the goalposts, I reckon you ought to be making plan b's for when your next renewal comes up.

Yeah, may be your right. But, even without MoM trying to increase salaries, considering the growing Cost of Living, I would say, salaries have to increase or else its not worth staying.

Its the jobs at the higher salary bands that are getting tougher to get, visa is kind of a given, atleast in the salary range that I am interested in i.e around the minimum P1 salary levels.

Also to add, 2 of my colleagues applied for H1B this year and got selected in the lottery process and they are happy going back to India before going to the US. The US economy is on the rise and with it will take the global economy up in the next 2 years. If you recollect, its only after the financial crisis, that saw an increase of foreigners, leaving the west for Singapore. I see that reversing. So, Singapore may not need to do all the tightening after all, people will leave on their own

[gailwynand]

I can almost guarantee that it's going to ramped up well before 2014. Just like the schedule for increases in the S pass levies. They were not supposed to increase until this past January, but wham! 1 Sept an increase at short notice followed by another on 1 January. You are only kidding yourself if you think that is giving you breathing space. If you are far, far away from the next level, e.g., just past the goalposts, I reckon you ought to be making plan b's for when your next renewal comes up.

Yeah, may be your right. But, even without MoM trying to increase salaries, considering the growing Cost of Living, I would say, salaries have to increase or else its not worth staying.

Its the jobs at the higher salary bands that are getting tougher to get, visa is kind of a given, atleast in the salary range that I am interested in i.e around the minimum P1 salary levels.

Also to add, 2 of my colleagues applied for H1B this year and got selected in the lottery process and they are happy going back to India before going to the US. The US economy is on the rise and with it will take the global economy up in the next 2 years. If you recollect, its only after the financial crisis, that saw an increase of foreigners, leaving the west for Singapore. I see that reversing. So, Singapore may not need to do all the tightening after all, people will leave on their own

The H1B quota is about to go way up, too.

I think they will go after the people the locals are most agitated about - white collar professionals from India, the Philippines, and PRC at the Q1/low end P2 salary levels who are driving down wages. Eliminate Q1 and hike the minimum for P2, and you've done that.

Highly doubt Westerners (or Western-educated) at anything above entry level pay are going to be impacted much. Those are the foreigners the government actually wants to hold onto.