The “EP salary requirement” in Singapore seems like a simple figure that you enter into a form and then forget about. It acts more like a bouncer in real life. No matter how appealing your resume is, how urgent the hiring manager sounds on Zoom, or how well your job title fits on LinkedIn, it makes no difference. Sometimes the conversation ends before it even starts if the salary doesn’t raise the bar.
For new Employment Pass applicants in the majority of sectors, the headline amount in early 2026 is S$5,600 per month. The starting point in financial services is S$6,200, which is higher. These figures are accurate, widely reported, and frequently cited. Because there isn’t a single, clear threshold for the requirement, they are also somewhat dishonest. It increases gradually as applicants get older, reaching a maximum of S$10,700 for most sectors or S$11,800 for financial services for those over 45.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Pass | Singapore Employment Pass (EP) |
| Who it’s for | Foreign PMETs (professionals, managers, executives, technicians) |
| Stage 1 | Meet EP qualifying salary (age-graded) |
| Stage 2 | Pass COMPASS (unless exempt) |
| 2026 baseline (most sectors) | S$5,600/month minimum; rises with age to S$10,700 at age 45+ |
| 2026 baseline (financial services) | S$6,200/month minimum; rises with age to S$11,800 at age 45+ |
| Next increase | From 1 Jan 2027: S$6,000 (most sectors) and S$6,600 (financial services) |
| COMPASS exemption | Fixed monthly salary ≥ S$22,500 (and a few other cases) |
| Official reference | Ministry of Manpower (MOM) EP eligibility page |
People miss that scaling, especially candidates who think they’re safe after hearing the base number. In many places, a specialist in their 40s making S$5,600 might feel well-paid. It may appear mispriced in Singapore’s EP logic, such as when a senior employee is paid less than a junior employee. The system may be attempting to stop a particular type of “cheap senior import” that would undercut local PMET wages, and that could be the point. MOM clearly links the qualifying salary concept to age-based local salary benchmarks.
It appears clean on paper. It makes for awkward situations in real life.
You can practically see them: recruiters revising offers, candidates performing mental math at midnight, and HR teams in glass offices close to Raffles Place. The phrase “pending approval,” which is corporate jargon for “we might need to find more money,” is used to describe a supposedly settled job. Additionally, sometimes there isn’t more money without completely altering the role.
The second gate is called COMPASS.
Many EP applications must still pass the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS), a points-based system where the application must score at least 40 points, even if the salary passes Stage 1. Although salary is still important at COMPASS, it is now assessed in relation to industry standards as well as firm-level characteristics like workforce diversity and local hiring profile.
At this point, the EP salary requirement begins to feel more like a hiring philosophy than a salary rule. Singapore is not merely inquiring, “Is this individual paid enough?” “Does this hire make sense in this company, in this sector, right now?” is another question it poses.
Some employers seem to have had to relearn the art of constructing an EP case. Paying a candidate more than the bare minimum isn’t enough. The goal is to match the offer with what Singapore views as complementary, competitive, and credible—words that seem courteous until they are rejected.
Another subdued indicator is the finance premium. Candidates in the financial services industry typically earn higher qualifying salaries because of this, and Singapore’s system seems committed to preventing finance from becoming the simplest backdoor for low-paying foreign positions masquerading as prestige. In any case, that is the stated reasoning. It’s still unclear whether it perfectly matches the messy variety of “financial services” jobs, from high-end trading to back-office compliance.
Examine the dates to get a clear idea of where this is going.
The minimum qualifying salary for new EP applications increases to S$6,600 for financial services and S$6,000 for the majority of sectors on January 1, 2027. Additionally, the age-adjusted top end increases, rising to S$11,500 for those over 45 and S$12,700 for those over 45. Companies have time to plan because this has been publicly signaled, but budgeting and planning are two different things.
The exemption—which exempts candidates with a fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500 from COMPASS—is one detail that alters the atmosphere in a room. For very senior hires, that threshold essentially creates a fast lane. It doesn’t pretend to be for most applicants, and it’s not made for them. However, it does provide insight into priorities: Singapore is prepared to exchange paperwork for price at the top of the market.
For the rest of us, the “EP salary requirement” is best viewed as a moving target consisting of two layers: the qualifying salary by sector and age, followed by the surrounding COMPASS scoring environment. When drafting an offer or giving advice to a candidate, it is safest to think in buffers rather than minimums.
Because S$5,600 is frequently only the question, not the answer, which is an uncomfortable reality.
Also, before you become emotionally invested in an offer letter, use the Ministry of Manpower’s Self-Assessment Tool. This is the most straightforward and realistic advice Singapore’s own system has to offer. When the numbers fit the framework, a startlingly high percentage of hiring “certain things” become complicated.
