Singapore targets Hong Kong’s high earners with latest work visa
SINGAPORE: If you earn over a quarter-million US dollars a year, Singapore wants you.
A new, flexible five-year work visa for foreigners making at least S$30,000 (RM96,300) a month is the latest salvo in a race to attract an exclusive group that makes up just 5% of expatriate workers in the city-state.
Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s latest initiative targets high-paid workers around the world – and professionals in some fields who make less than that base salary level – but the reality is that it ups the ante with regional rival Hong Kong at a weak moment for the former British colony.
With Beijing tightening its grip and Covid19 restrictions like hotel quarantine remaining in force, Hong Kong is seeing a historic exodus.
Singapore, which ended most mask mandates this week and has no quarantine requirement for incoming travellers, is adding extra flexibility to its new visas, allowing holders to switch jobs and making it easier for their spouse to work.
“It really is targeting some of the pain points of many people who are currently in Hong Kong looking at relocating to Singapore, or even organisations which are looking to relocate talent into the region and would normally choose between Hong Kong and Singapore,” said Lee Quane, the Hong Kongbased Regional Director of Asia for ECA International.
The salary requirement is a high bar. Bankers and employees in the finance industry, not surprisingly, are at the top of the list when it comes to potential candidates.
Singapore salary data compiled by recruitment company Michael Page International in a 2022 report suggested heads of investment banking met the minimum qualifying criteria, as well as those leading private banking and financial institutions, with S$415,000 (Rm1.33mil) to S$425,000 (Rm1.36mil) in average annual income.
Other potential targets include partners at international law firms, which Michael Page’s study said earned annual salaries of S$480,000 (Rm1.54mil) in Singapore, and senior executives at chemicals and engineering firms who can fetch up to S$500,000 (Rm1.61mil) per year.
Outsized salaries aren’t always a requirement, though.
Experienced technology professionals with skills deemed to be in shortage in Singapore can qualify with a salary of US$10,500 (RM47,029) per month if they met other criteria.
In addition, individuals with “outstanding achievements in the arts and culture, sports, science and technology, and research and academia, can also qualify” without meeting the salary threshold.
Prime minister Lee, in his national day address this month, said the search for elite talent will benefit Singaporeans as a whole by improving the country’s skill base and giving citizens and companies the advantage of working alongside top global talent.
The government estimated that only 5% of so-called foreign employment pass holders, which numbered 161,700 last year, met the salary threshold.
“These changes underscored Singapore’s commitment to remain open to the world,” the government said in a document outlining details of the visa plan, which people can apply for starting Jan 1.
“By building a deep local talent pool, and welcoming talent from around the world, we can be a vibrant global city, and create a society of opportunities for Singaporeans now, and in the years to come.”