MOM to carefully vet, keep tabs on One Pass holders to prevent abuse: Tan See Leng
Tessa Oh
WHILE holders of the upcoming pass for top talent will not need to stay employed for a specified period of time, the government will be in touch to keep up to date with their professional activities, said Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng in Parliament on Monday (Sep 12).
This is among the safeguards for the Overseas Networks and Expertise (One) Pass that Dr Tan laid out in a ministerial statement. Responding to questions from 16 Members of Parliament (MPs), he also addressed the targeted nature of the government’s recent work pass enhancements and what is being done to ensure locals can compete fairly.
Replying to a question from Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency MP Hazel Poa on the lack of a time limit for being employed, Dr Tan noted that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) reserves the right to cancel the pass “if there are extended periods of economic inactivity with no good reasons”.
But he added: “We are bringing in these talent and giving them flexibilities because we want to encourage them to take risks, to explore new frontiers and to make a big impact to benefit Singapore. It is important to allow for some ramp-up period for that to happen, and not be too quick to jump to the conclusion that they are not contributing.”
At the application stage, MOM will carefully vet applicants to sieve out any false salary declarations, such as by scrutinising personal income tax filings of existing Employment Pass (EP) holders to ensure that they are consistent with their applications.
The government will not put a cap on the number of One Pass holders based on nationality, said Dr Tan in response to a question from Pioneer Single Member Constituency MP Patrick Tay, who asked if limits will be imposed to ensure diversity.
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“We have envisaged that on a broader perspective, the Compass (Complementarity Assessment Framework) framework will manage the complementarity part, and because the One Pass is really targeted at the top 5 per cent, what we are concerned about is really the quality of the talent coming in,” he said.
Asked how the success of the One Pass will be measured, Dr Tan said the government will engage pass holders to better gauge their contributions. But he stressed that the “relationship between talent, innovation and economic growth is more than a simple, linear one”, and goes beyond a set of Key Performance Indicators: “Limiting and reducing it to that risks constraining us to a yardstick of measures and missing the forest for the trees.”
Pass holders’ contributions will vary, and not all will succeed the first time, he added: “Such is the nature of risk-taking. What matters is the sum of the parts, and how well the whole and entire portfolio performs.”
“If at the macro level, local job creation remains strong, unemployment low, real income growth sustained, and if, amongst our people, there is always a sense of hope and of opportunities, then I think we would have succeeded.”
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) stand to benefit from the One Pass too, he noted: either by hiring pass holders directly, or by tapping their expertise through consulting services or inviting them to join their boards.
“Just as importantly, a vibrant growing economy will create more business opportunities or build a new ecosystem for our SMEs who may be partners, contractors, suppliers or service providers,” he said, highlighting up-and-coming sectors like the green economy or fintech.
As for why the spouses of One Pass holders will be able to work on a Letter of Consent – instead of being assessed on their own merits like EP holders’ dependants – Dr Tan replied that for many top professionals, the decision to relocate is usually a family decision. Singapore may lose out to other countries which offer work privileges for dependants if it does not offer the same, he said.
In terms of numbers, this is not material, he added: Of the top 5 per cent of existing EP holders that may qualify for a One Pass, only a “small minority” have spouses who are working. “But in terms of the signal we are giving to top talent, it is absolutely material and absolutely needle-moving.”
Besides introducing the One Pass, targeted marketing and promotional efforts are needed to woo the right talent, said Dr Tan. In identifying “high-quality individuals to proactively engage”, sector agencies will tap existing networks, such as the Economic Development Board’s overseas offices.
Dr Tan also gave a recap of existing efforts to nurture local talent, from Industry Transformation Maps to leadership development programmes and skills transfer schemes.
Replying to Workers’ Party (WP) MP Jamus Lim, who had asked if training and skills transfer requirements could be codified into law, Dr Tan cautioned against taking “too deterministic” an approach.
“At the end of the day, skills transfer is not a simple linear process. It would be impossible to come up with a single rule on how long it should take for skills to be transferred from one person to another, or how much skills to transfer, for that matter,” he said.
That is why the government’s approach is not to set mandatory requirements but to put in place “the right ecosystem of policies” so businesses are incentivised to select foreign workers that complement the local workforce, while building the latter up.
Separately, Tay and WP MP Gerald Giam filed written questions about 2 other passes for global talent. In reply, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said that there are about 700 holders of the EntrePass – aimed at entrepreneurs and innovators – as at Jul 31, 2022.
As for the Tech.Pass – for highly-accomplished tech entrepreneurs, leaders, and experts – there have been more than 450 applications since its launch in January 2021, of which around 250 have been approved. The median monthly income of Tech.Pass holders is around S$30,000.
WP MP Louis Chua also filed a written question on EP holder salaries. The median monthly salary of EP holders was S$9,000 as at December 2021, up from S$4,700 in December 2011, replied Dr Tan, noting that MOM regularly reviews the EP qualifying salary to keep pace with wages of local professionals, managers, executives and technicians.
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