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SINGAPORE – In the financial sector, Singaporeans who are in the middle of the income spectrum of citizens earn less than permanent residents and foreigners in the same point of their income spectrum.
Singapore Monetary Authority board member Ong Ye Kung told Parliament on Friday (September 4) that for Singaporeans, the median salary band is $ 6,000 to $ 8,000 a month, while for PRs and foreigners, it is $ 8,000 to $ 10,000.
In senior positions, about half of Singaporeans and foreigners earn more than $ 30,000 a month, while nearly two-thirds of PRs do, he said, adding that these data sets are “as you would expect.”
The reason is that financial institutions often bring in higher-income foreigners to perform specialized regional and global functions. In addition, Singapore’s rules restrict the entry of foreigners at the lower end, said Ong, who is also a transport minister.
This means that a greater proportion of foreigners tend to earn higher wages and, consequently, the median would also be at a higher level.
Furthermore, foreigners with impressive profiles and backgrounds in Singapore would be expected to be more successful in obtaining public relations status.
“In other words, these data show results that reflect the fact that we regulate the entry of foreigners and apply selective criteria in granting PR to those who were previously foreign PME (professionals, managers and executives),” he said.
“If there were no regulation to control the influx of holders of Employment Passes, and there were no criteria and conditions for PRs based on their background, these income differences would naturally be reduced or disappeared.”
I was responding to Mr. Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) on the monthly salary breakdown for Singaporeans, PR and foreigners in the financial sector at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles.
Mr. Ong said such a breakdown would not be significant. The reason is that a foreigner and a Singaporean in the same percentile of their respective salary spectrum could be doing very different jobs and therefore earning different salaries.
On Tuesday, when Mr Ong addressed concerns about whether there are enough opportunities for Singaporeans in the financial sector, he said during the debate on the President’s speech that the absolute number of Singaporeans in senior positions had risen from 1,700 to 2,600 in the last five years. .
On Friday, responding to Chua, who had asked about efforts to help Singapore’s middle managers rise to senior management positions, Ong said the focus should be to be open to the world and grow as a global financial center, while invest in development. Singaporeans and working with financial institutions to do so.
“If we keep saying let’s just be a lake, we isolate ourselves from the lagoon, and the lagoon closes to the sea, we will always be a small pond.”
He added: “You can develop your middle management into positions of responsibility, but your market will be small.”
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