Written Answer

Number of S Pass Holders Earning More Than $3,000 in 2019, 2020 and 2021

4 April 2022 · Ministry of Manpower

Speakers

Pritam Singh (Leader of the Opposition) Tan See Leng (Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry)

Transcript

51 Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Manpower how many S Pass holders earned more than S$3,000 in 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively.

Dr Tan See Leng: The data requested by the Member is given in Table 1 below. From December 2019 to December 2021, the number of S Pass holders decreased from 200,000 to 161,800, in part due to COVID-19-related entry restrictions. Over the same period, the share of S Pass holders earning $3,000 or higher increased from 37% to 67%.

MOM regularly reviews the S Pass qualifying salary¹ to keep pace with local APT² wages. This ensures that S Pass holders are of good calibre and are not hired simply because they are cheaper than locals. Correspondingly, the share of S Pass holders earning higher wages has increased over time.