What's Your COMPASS Score? Changes Affecting Employment Pass Applications & Renewals

Singapore has long attracted many foreign workers, entrepreneurs, and investors. Top-quality infrastructure, access to international markets, and open trade policies are just some of the reasons why international professionals are keen to invest in Singapore’s vibrant business landscape.

The growing presence of foreign professionals in Singapore has positively impacted the nation's growth over the years. Foreign labour has helped to supplement Singapore’s ageing population and talent shortage (particularly in areas such as health, tech, and sustainability), enhancing its diversity, strengthening international ties, and maintaining a resilient market.

However, in recent years, the nation-state has become increasingly focused on striking a harmonious balance between welcoming foreign talent and safeguarding its highly educated and skilled workforce. That’s why The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recently implemented and introduced the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) to place better guardrails around the inflow of foreign-national workers.

What is COMPASS?

COMPASS is a new point-based system enacted in September 2023 for new Employment Pass (EP) applications. It evaluates whether a foreign worker qualifies for a new Employment Pass (EP) in Singapore or a renewal from September 2023 onward.

The COMPASS framework considers the individual and the potential employer’s attributes to holistically assess the EP applicant’s suitability to work in Singapore.

How Does it Work?

An EP applicant needs 40 points or more to secure eligibility.

Points are allocated across the following six criteria related to the individual and the company:

Individual Criteria:

1. Salary (compared to the local market, factoring in age)

2. Professional qualifications

3. Demand for the role (i.e. the role appears on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), which includes roles such as investment advisor, carbon project manager, clinical psychologist, physiotherapist, product manager and data scientist, to name a few.)

Company Criteria:

1. Diversity of the candidate (relative to the other employees)

2. Existing support for local employment

3. Participation in the Strategic Economic Priorities (SEP) programme

For further details of point calculations, you can follow MOM’s official COMPASS guidelines.

What Does COMPASS Mean for Businesses?

COMPASS is now active and can impact your recruitment plans and EP renewals. For businesses and individuals in Singapore, staying up-to-date and compliant with the COMPASS guidelines is essential.

In the long term, the COMPASS framework should enable a healthy balance in the job market between the expatriate worker community and Singaporean nationals. But in the near term, employers will inevitably feel the sting as they navigate new and more complex administrative rules, processes and fees to fulfil the burden of proof to hire foreign workers.

So, how should businesses prepare to navigate these new rules?

To avoid unwarranted surprises, Accela Talent recommends these six steps:

1. Get familiar: Log into MOM’s portal with your COMPASS account details and familiarise yourself with the services using the free COMPASS resources available online.

2. Score your candidates: Save yourself time and rework by pre-assessing job candidates at the selection stage of your recruitment process using the individual COMPASS criteria. You can determine candidates’ eligibility scores using MOM’s Self-Assessment Tool (SAT), or delegate this to your outsourced recruitment service provider (Accela Talent handles these assessments for our clients).

3. Score your company: Use the Workforce Insights tool (WFI) to determine your company’s COMPASS score. By closely reviewing the company criteria, you can assess the needed changes to your workforce strategy, or save time by working with a workforce strategy expert like Accela Talent.

4. Be strategic in your recruitment approach: If your candidate falls short in one attribute (for example, salary), it would be wise to maximise other attributes (for example, recruiting for jobs found in the SOL). The applicant's overall score will still increase by ‘exceeding expectations’ in one area (but falling short in another).

5. Audit existing EPs: Audit your business’ existing EP holders against the COMPASS criteria as soon as possible to prepare for 1 September 2024 when COMPASS will apply to EP renewable candidates. Have conversations early on with employees who won’t qualify for renewal to give them as much planning time as possible for the transition.

6. Update your workforce budgets: Employers must pay a fee to verify each EP applicant’s qualifications. As a result, leaders and HR teams will find value in thoughtful workforce planning to forecast their foreign worker demand and avoid financial surprises.

Accela Talent’s team of experienced recruitment and workforce professionals are well-versed with the COMPASS framework and can guide you as you navigate its processes. As a leading strategic recruitment and workforce planning service provider, we can help you retain your existing EP holders and secure the talent you need for the future success of your business.

Reach out to us for a complimentary consultation at hello@accela.asia