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The Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Ministry of Trade & Industry and relevant economic agencies have on 13 December 2022 announced new flexibilities to the existing Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) and S Pass sub-DRC quotas for hiring of foreign employees by employers who contribute to Singapore's strategic economic priorities through ambitious investment, innovation, or internationalisation activities.
Under the two-year Manpower Strategic Economic Priorities Scheme (M-SEP), these key employers who have fully utilised their existing DRC or S Pass sub-DRC headroom may be eligible for additional S Pass and Work Permit quotas of up to five percent of their base workforce headcount, the maximum ratio of foreign employees to the total workforce that an employer in a given sector can employ, subject to a cap of 50 workers per employer.
We summarise below the eligibility criteria for employers and M-SEP application considerations.
The flexibilities offered under M-SEP are targeted at assisting "needle-moving" enterprises, which the Minister for Manpower has described as employers that are "very innovative, that have put in significant investments and that are also ramping up to internationalise".
Instead of implementing a cross-sector DRC adjustment that may appear contradictory to the overall reduction in DRC quotas and sub-DRC quotas expected in 2023, the Minister for Manpower has reasoned that this targeted approach is more effective in addressing the non-resident employment and other unique business needs of key employers in the construction, process, services, manufacturing and marine shipyard sub-sectors as they catch up on the backlogs accumulated over the last two years whilst receiving new orders as the economy reopens. However, in exchange for flexibilities allowing for increased foreign employment from MOM-approved foreign countries and regions, the MOM expects employers to increase opportunities for Singaporeans to move up the career path and develop the type of technical expertise and talent needed in Singapore. Thus, an employer's M-SEP eligibility is conditional on its commitments to supporting Singapore's:
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