With the acceleration of globalisation, humans now have an unprecedented ability to seek better employment opportunities abroad. The Singapore government has painstakingly built up the nation to be safe and politically secure, with a stable financial climate. Hence, Singapore has become a popular destination for foreigners seeking better employment opportunities. Yet, an inconvenience stands in their way – getting an employment pass in Singapore.
The Employment Pass (EP) allows foreign professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) to work in Singapore, where candidates need to earn at least SGD$5,000 a month. To qualify for EP applications, candidates need to pass a two-stage eligibility framework, where:
COMPASS is a points-based system that enables employers to recruit competent international talent while enhancing workplace diversity and strengthening the local workforce foundation. To pass COMPASS, an application would need to earn 40 points from both the foundational criteria and bonus criteria, which measures individual attributes and firm-related attributes.
The foundational criteria comprises four criteria, where an applicant can earn up to twenty points per criterion. The four criteria are:
The bonus criteria comprises two criteria, which are:
The specifics of each criterion are further outlined on Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower page. Candidates are exempt from COMPASS if they meet any of the conditions:
It is also worth noting that applicants who do not meet the EP qualifying salary will not be eligible for the pass regardless of the points they would have scored under the COMPASS framework.
Generally, EP applications fail for lack of meeting the 40 points in the COMPASS framework. Some general reasons include:
EP applications may also fail if the employer does not consider all candidates fairly under the Fair Consideration Framework or adhere to the advertising requirements for hiring candidates (where the employer has more than 10 employees).
To earn points under the salary criterion of the COMPASS framework, EP applicants’ fixed monthly salary needs to meet or exceed the 65th percentile of local PMET salaries in your sector.
Applications frequently fail because salaries are too close to the minimum threshold, earning few or no points.
Qualifications from unaccredited institutions or diplomas not equivalent to a recognized degree may not score points. The system uses global university rankings and local equivalency to assess credentials.
Applications with questionable or unverified degrees often struggle under this criterion.
COMPASS aims to promote workforce diversity. Applicants to companies with a high concentration of a single nationality often lose points under the diversity criterion, where the share of candidate’s nationality among the organisation’s PMETs is measured.
Applicants from over-represented nationalities may get penalized even if they are qualified.
Employers are assessed on their employment of local PMETs. Applicants to companies with few local professionals are penalized here.
MOM uses firm-level data to benchmark against industry norms. If the company has significantly fewer local PMETs than average, the application may suffer.
Conclusion
The COMPASS framework has transformed Singapore’s EP evaluation system into a more data-driven and holistic process. While it aims to maintain Singapore’s openness to global talent, it equally emphasizes fairness, diversity, and local workforce development.
Understanding where and why applications fail is essential. Employers and candidates must think beyond minimum requirements and position themselves strategically across all COMPASS criteria. With proper due diligence and alignment with national priorities, success in EP applications remains within reach.
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