Singapore's staffing and recruitment sector is one of the most regulated service industries in the country. If your company — whether a headhunting firm, an FDW agency, or a corporate HR consultancy — places job seekers with employers, you need an employment agency licence Singapore before you accept a single placement fee. Operating without one [...]
Singapore is home to more than 2,000 licensed employment agencies (EAs), placing everyone from domestic workers and construction hands to C-suite executives and specialist financial professionals. If you are planning to enter this market — whether as a boutique headhunter, a corporate recruiting desk, or a full-service staffing firm — you must hold a valid [...]
Singapore is home to thousands of employment agencies — from boutique headhunters placing C-suite executives to large operations placing migrant domestic workers. Behind every licensed agency sits a framework that most aspiring founders underestimate: the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) employment agency licence, the mandatory Certificate of Employment Intermediaries (CEI), a security bond of up to [...]
Tripartite guidelines on fair employment practices — Costs and fees breakdown. For employers and foreign talent applying for Singapore work passes. Prac...
Workplace Fairness Act 2025 — employer obligations — Costs and fees breakdown. For employers and foreign talent applying for Singapore work passes. Prac...
The Ministry of Manpower published its Singapore Labour Market Q1 2026 report on 30 May 2026, providing the most current picture of employment conditions, wage trends, and foreign workforce flows in Singapore. For employers making hiring decisions — particularly those considering Employment Pass or S Pass applications — the Q1 2026 data provides essential context [...]
On 18 June 2026, the Ministry of Manpower published Singapore's public holidays 2027 — the official list of 11 gazetted holidays that every employer covered by the Employment Act must grant employees. Planning rosters, payroll runs, and leave calendars around these dates is a routine obligation that carries real cost consequences when done incorrectly. This [...]
Singapore's training and workforce infrastructure changed on 1 July 2026. On that date, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and Workforce Singapore (WSG) merged to form a new statutory board — the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA). The consolidation, announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in Budget 2026, brings together workforce development, skills funding, career conversion programmes, [...]
On 18 June 2026, the Ministry of Manpower published Singapore's official public holidays for 2027. There are eleven gazetted public holidays in total, carrying the same entitlements that Singapore employers have managed for years — but with new dates, new day-of-week configurations, and at least one weekend fallout that triggers a substitution day under the [...]
On 24 June 2026, the Ministry of Manpower announced the appointment of the inaugural board of the Skills and Workforce Development Agency — better known by its acronym, SWDA. The new statutory board launched on 1 July 2026, bringing together the two agencies that previously handled Singapore's workforce training and employment support: SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) [...]