Vacancy Rates of Technical Maintenance Positions in Facilities Management Sector and Assessment of Work Permit Classification for Technicians

64 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry collects data on the vacancy rate for technical maintenance positions in the facilities management sector over the last five years; (b) if so, what are the numbers; and (c) whether the Ministry has assessed the adequacy of existing work permit classifications for facilities maintenance technicians.

Dr Tan See Leng: From 2022 to 2025, vacancy rates for technical maintenance roles in the real estate services sector, which includes facilities management, have been lower than the overall job vacancy rate, except in 2025 (see Table 1).

Work passes are not categorised by occupations, but according to the skill-level or role (for example, professionals, managers, executives and technicians) of foreign workers. Facilities maintenance technicians are generally hired under Work Permits or S Passes. Our Work Pass framework allows firms to access foreign manpower to complement their local workforce. Firms that have a strong local core are given a higher quota for more Work Permit and S Pass workers.

The Ministry of Manpower's assessment is that the current categorisation of work passes is adequate for the real estate services sector.