SG Career Search

WHEN employers seek foreign workers, they probably go through one of the 2,000 licensed employment agents here.
These licensed agents get a cut of $3,000 to $5,000 of the fees paid to recruiters in the home country.

China workers reportedly pay up to $10,000 to get here.

Agents said the fees go towards administrative, transport and medical costs. Only licensed agents and employers can apply for work permits for foreign workers. To be a licensed agent, one has to sit an examination and put down a deposit of $20,000 in a banker's guarantee.

But illegal agents also operate here, say bona fide agents. They are usually former foreign workers who bring their friends or relatives here for work initially. They link workers up with employers, then ask legal agents for administrative help. The legal agents get a cut of about $1,000 for lending their name to a work permit application.

Often, it is these 'freelance' agents who mislead foreign workers with false promises of jobs in Singapore.

Since 2005, the Manpower Ministry has clamped down on over 30 illegal agents. A list of licensed agents here can be obtained from the its website.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.