How to find a job in Singapore as a foreigner

Every foreigner needs a work pass to work in Singapore. The two main ones are tied to an employer who applies for them: the Employment Pass (EP) for professionals, managers, executives and technicians, and the S Pass for skilled associate professionals and technicians at a lower salary, with a quota and levy for the employer. The ONE Pass and Personalised Employment Pass are for top earners and top talent. Students and young graduates of certain universities can use the Work Holiday Programme for up to six months. Our Singapore work pass guide compares them all.

Singapore’s system makes employers show they considered everyone fairly, locals included, before hiring from abroad. Before an EP or S Pass application, the employer must advertise the job on MyCareersFuture for 14 consecutive days and consider all candidates fairly. Then, unless your salary is at least S$22,500, the EP is scored on COMPASS, where you need 40 points across four criteria worth up to 20 each, plus bonuses:

• C1 Salary: 20 points at or above the 90th percentile of local PMET pay in the sector, 10 from the 65th.
• C2 Qualifications: 20 for a degree-equivalent from a top-tier institution (such as QS top 100), 10 for other degree-equivalents.
• C3 Diversity: 20 if your nationality is under 5% of the firm’s PMETs, 10 from 5% to under 25%, nothing at 25% or more.
• C4 Support for local employment: based on the firm’s share of local PMETs compared with its sector.
• Bonuses: up to 20 for a job on the Shortage Occupation List, and 10 for strategic economic priorities.

Half the score is about the employer, not you. That changes your targeting: a firm where your nationality is rare earns more diversity points, and firms with fewer than 25 PMETs get a default 10 on both C3 and C4. What you control is the salary you negotiate, how clearly you document your degree, and whether your role and experience match a shortage occupation.

MOM’s Shortage Occupation List is the clearest official signal. The list that applies from 1 January 2026 covers infocomm technology (including software developers, data scientists, AI engineers, cloud specialists and cybersecurity roles), healthcare (including registered nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and radiographers), the green economy (carbon markets), financial services for high-net-worth clients, semiconductors, maritime and agritech.

A shortage occupation isn’t a fast track on its own. MOM checks the candidate’s job duties, past experience and qualifications against the declared occupation, and someone who needed the bonus to pass can only work in that occupation. Make your CV prove the exact role, in its terms. If your profession is regulated, check its registration rules before you apply; our qualification recognition guide explains the general approach.

Start with MyCareersFuture, the government job portal where EP and S Pass roles must be advertised unless they are exempt. Anyone can browse and search it without logging in, but applying through it requires Singpass and is only open to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents. So use it as a map: note the employers advertising for your skills, then apply through their own careers pages or LinkedIn.

• MyCareersFuture: live roles and the employers currently hiring in your field.
• Company career pages and LinkedIn: where you actually apply from abroad.
• Licensed employment agencies: check the agency and the individual recruiter on MOM’s EA Directory before sharing documents. MOM caps what a Singapore agency may collect from a worker at one month’s fixed salary per year of service, up to two months, and your IPA letter shows any fee paid to a Singapore agency.

Many large employers screen applications with software before a person reads them. Run your CV against each posting with our free ATS score checker and fix what it can’t find.

Expect a standard process: screening call, one or more interviews and often a case or technical test. What differs is the paperwork around it. The employer can’t make an offer during the 14-day advertising window, then applies for your pass once you accept. MOM processes most online EP applications within 10 business days, and the IPA gives you six months to arrive and have the pass issued.

Salary deserves more care here than elsewhere, because it decides both the qualifying salary and the C1 points. A salary just below the next percentile band or the qualifying salary for your age can sink an application that would otherwise pass. Our salary negotiation guide covers how to raise it without losing the offer.

Notice periods are set by your contract. If a contract is silent, MOM’s statutory minimum runs from one day (under 26 weeks of service) to four weeks (five years or more), so ask what the employer expects and tell your current employer early.

The government’s ScamShield service lists job scams among the scam types it warns about. They typically offer online jobs done from home, paying commission for “tasks”. A job is likely a scam if it asks you to:

• pay upfront before starting, or use your own money to complete tasks;
• use your personal bank account as part of the job;
• hand over Singpass credentials or scan a QR code to apply.

Check any IPA or pass on MOM’s “Check work pass and application status” service with your date of birth and FIN or passport number, and check any agency on the EA Directory. Only the employer or its appointed employment agent can apply for an EP, so be wary of anyone else who offers to arrange one. If you are unsure, call the ScamShield helpline on 1799.

EP holders earning at least S$6,000 a month can bring a legally married spouse and unmarried children under 21 on a Dependant’s Pass, and at least S$12,000 to bring parents on a Long-Term Visit Pass. A Dependant’s Pass does not itself let your partner work: an employer applies for an EP, S Pass or DP-Work Permit, or your partner gets a Letter of Consent to run their own business. See the accompanying partners guide for rebuilding a career after a move.