Firms must try to hire Singaporeans first from Aug 2014

[AngMoG]

For those interested in the article, search for "Firms must advertise for Singaporeans before hiring foreign professionals"...

The rule is scheduled to take effect by 1 August 2014.

The major points are:
- There will be a national job bank, administered by WDA, where employers must advertise first for at least 14 days, and basically prove that they could not find Singaporeans to fill the vacancies before being able to hire foreigners
- Exemptions planned for companies of 25 or less, and for positions that pay $12,000 or more (at least in the beginning, subject to the last point here)
- (New) EPs will be rejected for companies not having advertised the position in the national job bank
- EP minimum salary will be raised to $3,300 from 1 Jan 2014 - this is for fresh grads. People with work experience need to command a relatively higher salary to qualify.
- Firms that have a "disproportionately low" number of SC PMETs will be scrutinized by MoM, and may have visa privileges curtailed

The writing was on the wall for this one. Among the side effects, I would expect longer processing time for EP applications once the rule is in effect, due to the additional checking required.

Note that these rules only speak of Singaporeans. PRs are not mentioned, but would probably not get access to the national jobs bank.

[aksri]

Though this is a good move by the Government and commendable but then it is silent on the status of PR's .
There could be PR's who are in the verge of taking citizenship have been contributing everything in and to Singapore than their country of origin .Can anyone clarify this point ?

[Wd40]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-2 ... airly.html

Companies with 25 or fewer employees will be exempt from the new rules, as well as jobs that pay a fixed monthly salary of S$12,000 or more, according to the statement.

Damn! So this must be the thing, SMS and others were hinting about regarding PEP holders who dont meet the new requirements, getting shafted. Now it wont be so easy to get an EP, also.

[PNGMK]

Though this is a good move by the Government and commendable but then it is silent on the status of PR's .
There could be PR's who are in the verge of taking citizenship have been contributing everything in and to Singapore than their country of origin .Can anyone clarify this point ?

I imagine PR's won't end up in the job bank but hiring managers who hire them would fulfil the requirement of hiring SC's. I guess we will find out.

[Wd40]

For employment purposes, PR = Singaporean. I dont see that changing with regards to this rule.

[Wd40]

Though this is a good move by the Government and commendable but then it is silent on the status of PR's .
There could be PR's who are in the verge of taking citizenship have been contributing everything in and to Singapore than their country of origin .Can anyone clarify this point ?

I imagine PR's won't end up in the job bank but hiring managers who hire them would fulfil the requirement of hiring SC's. I guess we will find out.

Its a job bank, not a candidate's bank like in Australia.

[Wd40]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sin ... 23152.html

Another interesting point:

Firms will be given some lead time to transit for their existing pool of Employment Pass holders. Existing EP holders whose passes expire before January will receive a one-time renewal based on the existing EP criteria.

Those whose passes expire between January 1 and June 30, 2014 will receive a one-time renewal of up to one year based on the existing EP criteria. After 30 June 2014, all existing EP holders will have to meet the new criteria.

Separately from January, the qualifying salary for new EP applications will be raised from S$3,000 to S$3,300. The ministry said this is in line with rising salaries.

[AngMoG]

For employment purposes, PR = Singaporean. I dont see that changing with regards to this rule.

I wouldn't bet on that. There is no mention of PRs, I'd assume they do not get access to the national job bank. But who knows, we'll have to wait and see until they clarify.

[AngMoG]

Though this is a good move by the Government and commendable but then it is silent on the status of PR's .
There could be PR's who are in the verge of taking citizenship have been contributing everything in and to Singapore than their country of origin .Can anyone clarify this point ?

I imagine PR's won't end up in the job bank but hiring managers who hire them would fulfil the requirement of hiring SC's. I guess we will find out.

Its a job bank, not a candidate's bank like in Australia.

Yup. Pure speculation at this point, but I would think you would need an account to access it, and those will only be given to Singaporeans and hiring companies.

[Wd40]

For employment purposes, PR = Singaporean. I dont see that changing with regards to this rule.

I wouldn't bet on that. There is no mention of PRs, I'd assume they do not get access to the national job bank. But who knows, we'll have to wait and see until they clarify.

They dont want to remove the sting from the move. If they use the word PR in the 1st release itself, then those TRE types, will just pounce on it and ignore the rest of the article.

Since they haven't specifically mentioned that PRs are excluded, its fair to assume that PR = Singaporean as was always the case for employment purposes.

Besides, bear in mind that this "Job bank" is not the only place that employers need to put the ad. They can still recruit PRs through other means.

The only point of hindarance is at the time of EP applications, the requirement is that you need to put the ad in the "job bank" thats it!. Since you dont need to go to MoM for getting work passes for PRs. PRs are not affected. Simple!

[AngMoG]

For employment purposes, PR = Singaporean. I dont see that changing with regards to this rule.

I wouldn't bet on that. There is no mention of PRs, I'd assume they do not get access to the national job bank. But who knows, we'll have to wait and see until they clarify.

They dont want to remove the sting from the move. If they use the word PR in the 1st release itself, then those TRE types, will just pounce on it and ignore the rest of the article.

Since they haven't specifically mentioned that PRs are excluded, its fair to assume that PR = Singaporean as was always the case for employment purposes.

Good point...

[Saint]

PRs don't need an EP so obviously PRs will not be affected

[PNGMK]

It sounds (frankly) like the usual sort of gahmen over management that is becoming the norm here....

[Wd40]

This is common in Europe as well, isn't it? I believe in UK, you must 1st give preference to UK candidates and then to EU candidates and finally rest of the world.

[yogaloungeforever]

Yeap it is common in the UK. When I was there only the big MNCs could afford to hire foreigners coz there was no quota but the small-medium coz had to prove to the UK government they could not find a local to do it. I heard cases where even when the co managed to provide evidence they cannot find a local the permit apps for the foreigner was also rejected.

This is common in Europe as well, isn't it? I believe in UK, you must 1st give preference to UK candidates and then to EU candidates and finally rest of the world.