2026 Singapore Salary Benchmarks: What Recruitment Survey Data Means for EP COMPASS and S Pass Compliance

Singapore’s professional salary market in 2026 is moving faster than many employers anticipated — and it is moving directly into the path of two regulatory mechanisms that few HR teams have fully stress-tested: the COMPASS salary benchmark for Employment Pass renewals and the S Pass qualifying salary floor. According to the 2026 Hays Asia Salary Guide, 43 per cent of professionals in Singapore secured salary increases of more than 10 per cent by changing employers in 2025. This is not just a talent management data point — it is a signal that the Singapore salary benchmarks used to assess COMPASS scores are reflecting a market that has moved materially, and that employment packages locked in two or three years ago may no longer be compliant.

This article synthesises the 2026 recruitment survey data from Hays with MOM’s updated COMPASS and S Pass salary requirements, and explains what Singapore employers need to do to protect their foreign talent headcount before and after 1 July 2026.

What Singapore Salary Benchmarks Say in 2026: The Recruitment Survey Data

The 2026 Hays Asia Salary Guide — drawn from thousands of professionals and hiring managers across Singapore — paints a consistent picture of a market where mobility is rewarded and stagnation is punished:

• 43 per cent of Singapore professionals who changed employers in 2025 secured salary increases of more than 10 per cent;
• 33 per cent of respondents were dissatisfied with their current salaries;
• 41 per cent cited better salary and benefits as a primary motivation for considering a job change in 2026;
• 36 per cent of respondents did not receive a salary increase in 2025 at all.

The practical implication for Singapore employers is that the labour market has structurally re-priced in the sectors where foreign talent concentration is highest — technology, financial services, and healthcare — and this re-pricing is now reflected in MOM’s updated COMPASS salary benchmarks.

The COMPASS Salary Benchmark Reset: What Changed in January 2026

Every year, the Ministry of Manpower recalibrates the COMPASS salary benchmarks to reflect the 65th percentile of local salaries in each industry sector. In January 2026, the benchmarks were reset with an average increase of approximately 5.1 per cent across sectors. According to analysis by immigration specialists, the highest increase was in the Fund Management sector (approximately 9.9 per cent), and the lowest change was in the Media sector (a marginal decrease of 0.5 per cent).

Under COMPASS, the C1 criterion — the salary benchmark — is where employers are most likely to lose points. To earn ten points on C1, the foreign professional’s fixed monthly salary must meet or exceed the 65th percentile of local salaries in their specific sector. An employer who scored ten points on C1 in 2023 or 2024 may now score only five or zero points if the employee’s salary has not kept pace with the market and the benchmark shift.

The critical date is 1 July 2026. Per Ministry of Manpower guidance, all EP renewals for passes expiring on or after 1 July 2026 are scored against the January 2026 benchmarks — regardless of when the original pass was granted. An employer who granted an EP in 2022 against a 2022 salary benchmark and has not reviewed the salary since is now facing a renewal audit under a benchmark that may be 15 to 20 per cent higher than the one at the time of the original grant.

Our dedicated guide on the EP COMPASS renewal audit July 2026 covers the renewal mechanics in detail, including how to read the COMPASS scorecard and what actions to take when a renewal is at risk. The complete Singapore Employment Pass guide 2026 provides the full framework for both new applications and renewals.

How to Use Salary Benchmark Data to De-Risk COMPASS Renewals

The Hays, Robert Half, and Michael Page salary guides — published annually — provide sector-level salary ranges for common professional roles in Singapore. These guides are not the same as MOM’s COMPASS benchmarks (which are derived from the actual payroll data of resident professionals in each sector), but they serve as a useful proxy for checking whether your foreign talent packages remain competitive.

A practical three-step approach for each EP holder approaching renewal:

1. Check the COMPASS benchmark for the relevant sector. MOM publishes sector benchmarks; the COMPASS assessment tool at MyMOM Portal allows employers to see the applicable 65th percentile figure for the employee’s SSIC sector code. If the employee’s fixed monthly salary is at or near (within 5 per cent of) the 65th percentile, you are at risk of losing C1 points at renewal.
2. Cross-reference with the recruitment market. Use the Hays or equivalent salary guide for the comparable role in Singapore. If the market is paying significantly more than the employee’s current package, this is a double signal: (a) the employee may be at flight risk, and (b) the COMPASS benchmark — which tracks market rates — is likely to continue rising in the next calibration cycle. A salary adjustment now addresses both risks.
3. Model the COMPASS score before submitting renewal. COMPASS allocates up to 40 points across five criteria. If you are scoring zero on C1 due to a sub-benchmark salary, you need to compensate across C2 to C5 — or raise the salary before the renewal application is submitted. Use the MOM COMPASS self-assessment tool available on the MyMOM portal to model the outcome before filing.

S Pass Salary Compliance: The 2026 and 2027 Thresholds

The S Pass salary landscape in 2026 involves two separate deadlines that employers must track concurrently.

Current S Pass Minimums (1 January 2026 Onwards)

Per MOM S Pass eligibility requirements, the current minimum qualifying salaries are:

• Most sectors: SGD 3,300 per month for applicants under 25; rising to SGD 4,650 per month for applicants aged 45 and above (age-banded salary floors apply)
• Financial Services sector: SGD 3,800 per month at the base level, with higher age-banded floors

January 2027 Increase: What Employers Must Prepare For Now

From 1 January 2027, new S Pass applications must meet a higher minimum salary floor of SGD 3,600 per month (most sectors) and SGD 4,000 per month (financial services sector). Renewals for S Passes expiring on or after 1 January 2027 will also be assessed against the new minimums.

For financial services employers in particular, the step from SGD 3,800 to SGD 4,000 at the baseline — and correspondingly higher increases at senior age bands — will require salary reviews for S Pass holders whose current packages were designed to clear the 2026 floor. The standard lead time for a well-managed salary review is three to six months, which means financial services employers should be conducting that review now, not in December 2026.

For a comprehensive breakdown of the S Pass framework including quota and levy, see our complete Singapore S Pass guide for 2026.

Local Qualifying Salary and Quota Arithmetic

The S Pass and Work Permit quota calculation depends not just on the salary paid to the foreign pass holder, but on how many local employees count toward the quota base. From 1 July 2026, the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) — the minimum wage a local employee must earn to be counted in the quota calculation — rose from SGD 1,600 to SGD 1,800 per month for full-time employees. Our dedicated article on the Local Qualifying Salary increase to SGD 1,800 explains the quota impact in full.

The salary benchmark shift affects the quota calculation indirectly: if you are paying your local employees at or near the old LQS floor (between SGD 1,600 and SGD 1,799), those employees are no longer counted as full units in the quota — they now count as half units. This reduces your foreign worker quota without any direct change to your foreign headcount. Employers who were sitting close to their quota limit under the old LQS arithmetic may find they are in breach from 1 July 2026 unless they have either raised local salaries or reduced their foreign headcount.

COMPASS Diversity Bonus and Skills Bonus: When Salary Alone Is Not Enough

When a salary increase is not commercially viable — perhaps because the EP holder is already at the top of the salary band for the role — the COMPASS framework offers two other mechanisms to compensate for below-benchmark salary scores:

• C4 Diversity Bonus: If the applicant’s nationality is underrepresented among the employer’s EP holders (typically fewer than five per cent of the EP workforce from that nationality), the employer earns five bonus points on C4, partially offsetting a weak C1 score.
• C5 Skills Bonus: If the applicant’s job role appears on MOM’s shortage occupations list, the employer earns bonus points on C5. Updated lists are published periodically and tend to include roles in certain technology, engineering, and healthcare specialisations.

Neither bonus fully compensates for a zero score on C1 — ten points is still ten points. But they can be the margin that pushes a marginal COMPASS score from below 40 to above 40. For the full cost modelling of an EP arrangement including bonus mechanisms, our true cost of hiring a foreigner in Singapore provides a worked example that accounts for all five COMPASS criteria alongside levy, relocation, and housing.

Practical Steps for Singapore HR Managers Before End-2026

1. Audit every EP renewal due in H2 2026. List all EP holders whose passes expire between 1 July 2026 and 31 December 2026. For each, check the current salary against the 2026 COMPASS 65th percentile benchmark for their sector. Flag those within 10 per cent of the benchmark as at-risk.
2. Run a COMPASS model for each at-risk EP holder using the MyMOM Portal self-assessment tool before submitting the renewal application. Identify which criteria — C1 to C5 — contribute to the total score and whether compensating factors are available.
3. Conduct salary reviews for at-risk EP holders before the renewal window opens. Salary changes take time to implement through payroll and HR systems; do not wait until the renewal month to identify and fix a below-benchmark package.
4. Prepare for S Pass increases from January 2027. Start the salary review process for S Pass holders in financial services and sectors where the SGD 3,300 to SGD 3,600 step-up will require adjustments. Schedule reviews for Q3 2026 at the latest.
5. Verify that local employee salaries meet the new SGD 1,800 LQS. Check the quota arithmetic: if any local employees dropped from full to half count under the new LQS, assess whether the quota shortfall requires action on foreign headcount or local salary adjustment.

If you need support reviewing COMPASS scores, managing EP and S Pass renewal applications, or auditing your foreign workforce compliance position, Singapore Employment Agency — the consumer brand of Little Big Employment Agency (MOM Licence 19C9790) — provides professional pass management services for Singapore employers. For incorporation, entity structuring, and broader corporate services, Raffles Corporate Services is your partner.

— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency