Budget 2024: Rise in local qualifying salary a ‘natural adjustment’ but smaller companies likely to be hard-hit, say observers

• The Local Qualifying Salary will rise from S$1,400 to S$1,600 for full-time local employees
• For part-time local employees, the LQS will go up from S$9 per hour to S$10.50 per hour
• The government will increase its co-funding share under the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme to a maximum of 50 per cent

WHILE the government’s move to raise the local qualifying salary (LQS) for companies here is a “natural adjustment”, smaller businesses struggling to hire workers will be hard-hit by the increase, say industry observers.

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced in his Budget speech on Friday (Feb 16) that from this July, local employees who work at companies that hire foreign workers must be paid a minimum full-time wage of S$1,600, up 14 per cent from S$1,400, or a part-time hourly rate of S$10.50, up from S$9.

The government will also increase its co-funding level under the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS) for this year from a maximum of 30 per cent to a maximum of 50 per cent.