A foreign PMET posted on the Singapore Expat Forum yesterday (4 Jan) revealing that he is trying to obtain a Work Permit to work in Singapore despite being a “skilled” IT personnel.
Apparently, he studied in some school in Singapore and graduated with a diploma in IT last month. Thereafter, he successfully applied for a, presumably, IT job here and was offered a salary of $2,400 a month by a company.
The company said that he would not be eligible for EP or S-Pass and is trying to employ him by applying for a Work Permit.
“I am so worried. How many chances that my work permit will be approved?” the foreigner asked.
According to MOM website, the Employment Pass or EP is for foreign PMETs with salary offer of at least $3,600 a month as well as with acceptable qualifications.
S-Pass, on the other hand, is for mid-level skilled foreign PMETs earning at least $2,300 a month and with relevant qualifications and experience.
Finally, the Work Permit is meant for semi-skilled foreign workers in the construction, manufacturing, marine shipyard, process or services sector. It is generally meant for blue-collar foreign workers.
It’s not known why the company didn’t try to apply an S-Pass for the foreign PMET since his offered salary of $2,400 is above the minimum $2,300.
It may be that the company might have hit the S-Pass quota since the number of S-Pass holders are capped at 15% of the company’s total workforce for the services sector or 20% for others.
It remains to be seen if MOM will grant a Work Permit usually meant for blue collar foreign workers to this foreign PMET working in IT.
