The Hidden COMPASS Score: How Industry Peers Affect Your Hire

Most employers work out their COMPASS score from the inside out. Salary, qualifications and nationality mix all sit in your own payroll records, so they feel knowable. What catches firms off guard is that two of the four foundational criteria are scored against companies you have never met, and one of them can move in a month where you changed nothing at all. This is the hidden COMPASS score, and understanding how your industry peers affect your hire is often the difference between an approval and a rejection you did not see coming.

Who this applies to

This is written for employers in Singapore applying for, or renewing, an Employment Pass. It matters most to HR managers, finance leads and founders in firms growing quickly, sitting in a crowded sub-sector, or with a workforce concentrated in one or two nationalities. It is especially relevant if your headcount is nearing 25 PMETs, since the scoring rules change shape there, and if a renewal is due, as renewals have been assessed under COMPASS since September 2024.

It is less relevant for S Pass or Work Permit hiring, governed by quota (Dependency Ratio Ceiling) and levy instead. Nor does it apply where the candidate is exempt: fixed monthly salary of at least SGD 22,500, an overseas intra-corporate transferee, or a role lasting one month or less.

Key rules and requirements in Singapore

COMPASS, the Complementarity Assessment Framework, has applied to new Employment Pass applications since 1 September 2023. An application needs at least 40 points, drawn from four foundational criteria scoring 0, 10 or 20 each, plus bonus criteria where they apply. Those four split into two groups, and that split is the whole point of this article.

Candidate-level criteria, which you influence directly:

C1 Salary. The candidate’s fixed monthly salary is compared against local PMET salaries in the same sector and age band: 65th percentile and above scores 20, the 45th to below the 65th scores 10, below the 45th scores 0.
C2 Qualifications. A degree-equivalent qualification scores 10, and one from a top-tier institution scores 20.

Firm-level criteria, which are scored against your peers:

C3 Nationality diversity. If the candidate’s nationality makes up under 5 per cent of your PMET workforce you score 20; 5 to under 25 per cent scores 10; 25 per cent or more scores 0.
C4 Support for local employment. Your firm’s share of local PMETs is ranked against other firms in your sub-sector: 50th percentile and above scores 20, the 20th to below the 50th scores 10, below the 20th scores 0.

C4 is what people mean by a hidden score. You are not measured against a published number but against a distribution of other employers, and that distribution shifts as they hire, restructure and let people go. Local, here, means Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents.

Two mechanics soften the edges. Firms with fewer than 25 PMETs receive a default 10 points on both C3 and C4, which is why very small employers rarely feel the peer comparison. Bonus points can also rescue a borderline case: a role on the Shortage Occupation List attracts up to 20 points under C5, halved to 10 where the firm’s share of PMETs of the candidate’s nationality is one third or more, and a Strategic Economic Priorities scheme adds 10 under C6.

None of this replaces the underlying obligations. The Employment of Foreign Manpower Act governs work pass conditions, the Employment Act sets minimum standards, and the Fair Consideration Framework still requires most roles to be advertised on MyCareersFuture for 14 days before an EP application, subject to exemptions.

Step-by-step process

Pull your own workforce numbers first. Know your PMET headcount, your local versus foreign split, and the nationality concentration within that group. Almost every COMPASS surprise starts with an employer who did not know these three figures.
Run the MOM Self-Assessment Tool. The SAT returns your firm’s actual C3 and C4 scores from official records, not an estimate. Run it with the candidate’s details before you make an offer.
Check the sector classification MOM holds for your entity. Your SSIC code decides which peer group you are ranked in, and one that no longer reflects the business can put you against the wrong companies entirely.
Benchmark the salary properly. The qualifying salary is a floor, not a scoring target. In 2026 it starts at SGD 5,600 a month for the youngest general-sector candidates, rises with age, and is higher in financial services. C1 points are earned at the 45th and 65th percentile marks.
Look for bonus points before writing the case off. Check the Shortage Occupation List against the actual job scope, and whether your firm qualifies under a Strategic Economic Priorities scheme.
Meet the advertising requirement on MyCareersFuture where the Fair Consideration Framework applies, and keep the record.
Submit through EP Online and retain the evidence, including the dated SAT output and the workforce figures relied on.
Re-run the exercise before every renewal. A pass two years ago tells you little about a renewal today.

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming C4 is fixed. Your percentile can fall while your own local hiring stays flat, simply because peers improved.
Relying on the small-firm default forever. Crossing 25 PMETs replaces two comfortable 10-point defaults with two real scores, which can be 20 and 20, or 0 and 0. Model it beforehand.
Fixing C3 in a way that damages C4. Hiring more foreign PMETs of a different nationality lifts diversity while pushing your local share down. The two have to be planned together.
Misreading who counts as a PMET. MOM works from employment records, not your org chart. Interns, third-party contractors and non-PMET staff rarely sit where employers assume.
Leaving the check to submission week. C3 and C4 are the two things you cannot fix quickly.
Confusing the qualifying salary with C1. Meeting the minimum gets you into the assessment. It does not earn points.

Practical examples

A small firm that barely notices the benchmark. An engineering consultancy with 18 PMETs hires a degree-qualified project manager at a salary above the 65th percentile. C1 gives 20, C2 gives 10, and the small-firm default gives 10 each for C3 and C4. That is 50 points, and the peer comparison never really bit.

The same firm two years later. It has grown to 42 PMETs, of whom 16 are Singapore Citizens or PRs. Its local PMET share now sits below the 20th percentile for its sub-sector, so C4 scores 0. Around 30 per cent of its PMETs share the candidate’s nationality, so C3 also scores 0. With an identical candidate profile, the application scores 30 and fails. Nothing about the candidate changed. The firm did.

A borderline case rescued by the role, not the person. A medtech firm scores 10 on C4, 20 on C3, 10 on C1 and 10 on C2, reaching 50. Had its diversity position been weaker, a role on the Shortage Occupation List would have been the realistic route to 40, rather than an offer the business could not sustain.

How Singapore Employment Agency can help

Singapore Employment Agency works with employers on exactly this assessment: reading your firm’s actual C3 and C4 position, testing candidates against it before offers go out, and building a hiring sequence that improves your standing over time. We also handle Employment Pass and S Pass applications, renewals and appeals, Dependant’s Pass matters, and the HR compliance work alongside them. Where a case is genuinely weak, we say so early. Restructuring a role or delaying a hire by a quarter costs far less than absorbing a rejection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I find out what my industry peers actually score?

No. MOM does not publish firm-level workforce data, and there is no lawful way to obtain a competitor’s figures. What you can see is your own position within the distribution, through the Self-Assessment Tool, which is the practical equivalent.

If I hire one Singaporean, will my C4 score improve straight away?

Not usually. C4 draws on employment records over a period, so a single hire takes time to register, and your percentile also depends on what peers did over that period. Sustained local hiring moves the number; a one-off hire the week before submission generally does not.

Do Permanent Residents count as local for C4?

Yes. Both Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents are counted as local PMETs for the purposes of C4.

My company is newly incorporated with almost no employment history. How is it scored?

A firm with fewer than 25 PMETs receives the default 10 points each on C3 and C4, which is where most new entities sit. Early applications therefore rest heavily on C1 and C2, so salary benchmarking and qualifications carry more weight than founders expect.

Does any of this affect S Pass applications?

No. S Pass applications are assessed against the qualifying salary, the Dependency Ratio Ceiling and the applicable levy tier. COMPASS does not apply, though your workforce mix affects both frameworks.

Key takeaways

C4 ranks your local PMET share against sub-sector peers, so your score can change without any decision on your part.
Firms with fewer than 25 PMETs receive a default 10 points on both C3 and C4, and lose that cushion as they grow.
Check your C3 and C4 position through the MOM Self-Assessment Tool before making an offer, not after.
Confirm the sector classification MOM holds for your entity, since it decides your peer group.
The qualifying salary is a floor; C1 points are earned at the 45th and 65th percentile marks.
Plan C3 and C4 together, and check the Shortage Occupation List before writing off a borderline case.

Requirements may change, so always check the latest guidance from MOM, IRAS or ACRA, or consult a professional adviser.

If you would like to find out more about how Singapore Employment Agency can assist with your work pass and employment compliance requirements, please get in touch with the team at [email protected].

Yours sincerely,
The editorial team at Singapore Employment Agency

Disclaimer: This does not constitute legal advice. If you require legal advice, please contact a lawyer.