Singapore introduces S$15,000 sign-on bonus to incentivise local nursing graduates

For existing nurses in the public sector, MOH is working on a long-term retention scheme which will be ready in the coming few months.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) has announced a S$15,000 sign-on bonus for eligible local nursing graduates in Singapore. 

This bonus will apply to fresh graduates who join the public healthcare clusters or in publicly-funded residential community care organisations such as nursing homes between 1 January and 31 December 2023.

As part of the eligibility requirements, these nurses must be Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents, who have graduated from local institutes of higher learning, and have not taken up a sponsorship or scholarship. 

The full eligibility criteria can be referred to here. 

As shared by MOH, the bonus will be paid out in three tranches of S$5,000: The first tranche will be paid out at the start of employment, with the second and third tranches at the end of the first and second years of service respectively.

Apart from the above, in his speech at the 2023 nurses' merit award, Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung also touched on efforts to retain existing nurses. He shared: "Pre-COVID-19, attrition of nurses was about 5% to 7% a year. During COVID-19, it shot up to about 10%, mostly due to foreign nurses being poached by other countries. In the first half of 2023, attrition has so far reverted to pre-COVID-19 levels, which is a big relief for us.

"We can do more to retain our good nurses. Strengthening recruitment, including through sign-on bonuses, will help indirectly because it relieves the heavy workload of existing nurses. But I know remuneration matters too. MOH will continue to work with the healthcare clusters to review the salary packages of nurses on a regular basis."

That aside, he highlighted that "remuneration can also be enhanced in ways other than a salary revision which comes every several years."

"We have public service professional services, such as the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Education Service, which offer quite attractive retention schemes. The SAF has the SAVER Scheme while the education service has the CONNECT Scheme. They serve two purposes – one, they enhance the remuneration package of the service, and two, they encourage officers to stay long enough in service to build a career."

In that vein, he said the Ministry is working on a long-term retention scheme for nurses in the public healthcare sector, and that these schemes will be similar to the SAVER scheme. More details will be shared once ready in the coming few months. 

Photo / MOH Facebook