Singapore COMPASS EP Workforce Intelligence Dashboard

One-liner: A S$39/month SaaS for Singapore employers managing Employment Pass holders that tracks firm-level COMPASS C3/C4 scoring in real time, simulates hiring scenarios before submission, and alerts HR teams to renewal risk across their entire EP portfolio.

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Discovery

Methods used: Trend Sniffer + Pain-point Extractor

Signal: From 1 January 2026, MOM refreshed COMPASS sector-specific salary benchmarks and the Shortage Occupation List; renewals under the new benchmarks take effect from 1 July 2026. The update triggered a wave of advisory content from EY, KPMG, Hawksford, and Raffles Corporate, all documenting the same employer blind spot: firms discover C3 (nationality diversity) and C4 (local PMET support) scoring risk only at application stage, not beforehand.

Pain-point evidence: Veremark's 2026 EP renewal guide explicitly states that EP applications "fail at the firm level more often than HR teams realise" and that rejections trace back to "avoidable delays, inconsistent submissions and last-minute document issues." The structural problem is that salary benchmarks and credential checks get assessed against internal HR pay bands rather than MOM sector benchmarks, leading to failures after offer letters have already been issued.

Idea: An employer-facing SaaS (not another candidate-level calculator, several free ones already exist) that maintains a live portfolio view of all EP holders, tracks the employer's real-time C3/C4 scoring against MOM benchmarks, simulates the COMPASS impact of new hires before submission, and sends alerts 60-90 days before renewals when a candidate's score may have drifted.

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Opportunity Detail

The problem

Singapore's Employment Pass system has used COMPASS since September 2023. Every application is scored on six criteria (C1-C6); four are foundational, each worth 0, 10, or 20 points; a score below 40 means automatic rejection. Two criteria, C3 Nationality Diversity and C4 Local PMET Support, are firm-level, meaning identical candidates score differently at different employers. A firm where more than one-third of its EP holders share the same nationality automatically scores 0 on C3 for new applicants of that nationality.

The problem for HR teams:

• C3 and C4 are invisible until an application is filed. MOM's own Workforce Insights tool requires CorpPass login and returns a static snapshot with no tracking, no alerts, no scenario simulation.
• Multiple EP holders renewing at different dates create a rolling compliance calendar that spreadsheets cannot manage reliably.
• The January 2026 benchmark refresh changed salary C1 scoring for all new applications and will affect renewals from July 2026. Employers that have not re-benchmarked their existing EP holders' salaries against the new thresholds are working without current data.
• When C3/C4 risk surfaces at application stage, employers face a difficult choice: delay the hire, raise the salary, or engage an immigration lawyer at S$3,000-8,000 per application.

Free tools (compasscheck.sg, compassscoresingapore.com) address the candidate-level one-off calculation but ignore the employer portfolio entirely. MOM's official Self-Assessment Tool (EP SAT) is the same: single-application, no portfolio view.

The product

A web SaaS tool for Singapore employers, priced at S$39/month (up to 20 EP holders) with a S$79/month tier for 21-100 holders.

Core features:

1. EP Portfolio Register: employer inputs all current EP holders (name, nationality, role, salary, renewal date). No MOM API needed; manual input with CSV import. PDPA-compliant data handling with explicit consent and no storage of NRIC/FIN numbers.

2. Live C3/C4 Score Monitor: calculates the employer's current nationality concentration ratio and local PMET ratio based on HR data entered; shows C3 and C4 score band in real time.

3. Scenario Simulator: "If I hire a Malaysian national at S$5,500/month as a Software Engineer, what will COMPASS score?" Runs before any application is filed, giving HR teams the data they need before extending offers.

4. Renewal Calendar: flags all EP holders with renewals in the next 90, 60, and 30 days; shows projected COMPASS score at renewal based on current firm metrics and the candidate's latest salary and qualifications.

5. Benchmark Alerts: notifies when MOM refreshes sector salary benchmarks (annually) so employers can re-run their portfolio against the new thresholds before the next renewal wave.

6. Checklist Builder: per-application checklist covering educational certificates, employment contracts, salary payslips, and supporting documents. Targets the "inconsistent submissions" rejection pattern directly.

What the tool does not do: it does not submit to MOM directly, does not store FIN or NRIC numbers, and does not provide legal advice. All outputs carry "indicative only, verify with MOM or a licensed immigration adviser" disclaimers.

Why now

The 2026 benchmark refresh forces every employer managing EP renewals to re-evaluate salary positioning. The July 2026 renewal cohort (applications submitted September 2024 reach their 2-year renewal in September 2026) is the first large wave under the new benchmarks, meaning employers will face scoring surprises starting mid-2026. Immigration advisory firms, EY, KPMG, Hawksford, and Raffles, are publishing guidance but not building software tools. The advisory content is creating demand that has no software product to land on.

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7-Dimension Triage Scores

Dimension	Score (0-5)	Rationale
Demand Pull	4	Documented employer pain (C3/C4 blind spot); 200,000+ EP holders; KPMG/EY publishing benchmark guides signals active market. Free tools cover candidate-level only; employer portfolio gap is unserved.
Acquisition Feasibility	4	Clear SEO demand ("COMPASS EP renewal Singapore 2026"). LinkedIn ads to HR Directors and Ops Managers. HR association lists. Immigration firms as referral partners. MOM's Workforce Insights tool is weak, driving advisory demand that can redirect to SaaS.
Agent Advantage	3	Core logic is rules-based COMPASS calculation plus renewal calendar automation, well within AI capabilities. Benchmark refresh alerts require monitoring MOM publications; agent can parse these. Not deep AI, more rule engine with data tracking.
Low-Volume Economics	4	S$39/month at 100 customers = S$3,900 MRR with near-zero COGS. No API fees (MOM has no commercial API; tool uses HR data entered by user). Gross margin ~85%+.
Operator Lightness	4	No MOM integration required; no real-time data feed; user inputs their HR data. Support burden is low; core product is a calculator and calendar. Benchmark updates require periodic rule updates once per year.
Market Trend	5	COMPASS is a permanent fixture of Singapore immigration policy. Annual benchmark refreshes create recurring demand. EP holder count has grown for 3 consecutive years. Growing MNC presence in Singapore sustains demand.
Policy Redline	5	No red lines. Not providing immigration legal advice (disclaimer required). Not storing FIN/NRIC. PDPA applies to the tool's own data handling, manageable with standard consent workflows. Cannot claim MOM affiliation.

Triage Total: 29/35

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Hypotheses for Research Phase

1. Market size: How many Singapore employers hold 5+ EPs and would pay S$39/month for a portfolio tool? MOM publishes EP statistics. Verify total EP holder count and employer distribution.
2. Competitive landscape: Do any HR SaaS platforms (KAMI Workforce, Talenox, Info-Tech HRMS) offer COMPASS portfolio tracking? Preliminary search found none, but research should verify.
3. Willingness to pay: Is S$39/month competitive relative to one immigration lawyer consultation (S$300-500/hour)? Survey or proxy data needed.
4. Distribution: Can immigration advisory firms (Hawksford, PConnect, Fragomen Singapore) work as referral or white-label partners rather than competitors?
5. Regulatory risk: Verify that providing COMPASS score estimates does not constitute immigration advice under Singapore's Immigration Practitioners Accreditation Board (IPAB) framework. Most likely it does not (indicative tool with disclaimer), but this needs legal confirmation.

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Competitor and Acquisition Hints

Existing tools (gap map):

• MOM EP SAT: Free, single-application, no portfolio view, no alerts
• compasscheck.sg / compassscoresingapore.com: Free, candidate-level calculators only
• Info-Tech HRMS, Talenox, Swingvy: payroll and leave management, no COMPASS scoring

Acquisition channels:

• SEO on "COMPASS score calculator employer", "EP renewal Singapore 2026", "C3 diversity score employer"
• LinkedIn Ads targeting HR Directors and Heads of People at Singapore companies with 20-500 employees
• Partnership with immigration advisory firms (Hawksford, PConnect, Fragomen) as white-label or referral channel; they have the content and the audience already
• Singapore HR Institute (SHRI) and HR associations
• ACRA company registry: companies incorporated 2019-2022 likely have EP holders reaching 2-year renewal cycle now

Red line reminders for feasibility phase:

• Must not claim to provide immigration legal advice or claim MOM affiliation
• Must carry "indicative only, verify with MOM or licensed immigration adviser" on all score outputs
• PDPA: collect minimum necessary HR data; no FIN/NRIC storage; explicit consent from employer for data entered
• IPAB: confirm tool is informational software, not regulated immigration practice

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Assets

• assets/demand_evidence.md: primary demand evidence covering MOM COMPASS documentation, Veremark and Raffles Corporate pain point research, KPMG/EY benchmark alert coverage, calculator tool gap analysis, and market size signals