Companies with More Than 30% of Foreign PMETs and Those with More Than 20% of PMETs of a Single Foreign Nationality

Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Manpower since 2014, what is the annual percentage of companies with (i) more than 30% of foreign professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) employed and (ii) employees of a single foreign nationality accounting for more than 20% of all PMETs employed.

Dr Tan See Leng: We have made a distinction in the statistics for small firms with fewer than 25 PMETs and larger firms with 25 or more PMETs. This is because small firms have a very small PMET base and their proportion of foreign PMETs will be prone to fluctuations. The median number of PMETs in small firms which hire PMETs is only two. This means that even with one foreign PMET, the median small firm would have exceeded the 30% foreign PMET share or 20% single nationality share. It is important to look at the workforce profile of larger firms with 25 or more PMETs, as these firms tend to have more stable workforce profiles and hire the majority of Employment Pass (EP) holders. While small firms account for 96% of all firms, they only hire about 30% of EP holders.

Over the last decade, the percentage of larger firms with a foreign PMET share of 30% or more has remained constant at 20%. On average, over the decade, about 20% of small firms have a foreign PMET share of 30% or more but the 2023 figure was higher at 28%.

On the percentage of firms with employees of a single foreign nationality accounting for more than 20% of all PMETs employed, it has remained constant at 10% over the decade for larger firms. For small firms, it is about 20% on average, over the last decade, and the figure increased to 30% in 2023.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has introduced the points-based Complementarity Assessment Framework to enable employers to select high-quality foreign professionals while improving workforce diversity and building a strong local core. This has been in place for new EP applicants since September 2023 and will apply to renewal applicants from September 2024. MOM will continue to closely monitor the workforce profile of all firms and adjust our policy levers, where appropriate.