Make clear plans to train local talent first before SOL inclusion, industries told

Manpower Ministry said the list is not the sole strategy to address the talent gap.

Amidst the talent crunch across all industries, Ministry of Manpower Tan See Leng declared that industries should make an effort to develop a local skilled workforce before being included in the shortage occupation list (SOL).

In a parliament response, Tan clarified that SOL is not the sole strategy to address the talent shortage in Singapore.

“Whilst the SOL helps companies access foreign professionals to plug immediate skills gaps and seize economic opportunities, it must also be complemented by robust efforts by industry to train up and place locals into these well-paying jobs,” said Tan.

The Manpower Ministry and the Ministry of Trade and Industry will also review occupations for

Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) SOL is based on three criteria, first, the strategic importance of the occupation to Singapore’s economic priorities, second, the degree and nature of labour shortage, and third, the sector’s commitment to developing the local pipeline to address these shortages.

Labour shortages are also reviewed based on a set of quantitative indicators, these data are from MOM’s Job Vacancy Survey, and data from the MyCareersFuture job portal on job applications and vacancies.

Follow the link for more news on

Ministry of Manpower

Tan See Leng

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia