I worked with Souhila for two or maybe three sessions when I was exploring roles outside oil and gas, and moving from Singapore back to the UAE. She helped me rework my CV and LinkedIn, pulling out transferable skills like P&L, sales and marketing, people management and transformation, asked a lot of questions, listened well, and simplified and summarized things in a way that made sense. In another session she coached me on negotiating my new contract with my current employer, which opened my eyes and helped me position myself, and I ended up getting an internal promotion during a restructuring. She came prepared every time, did her research, told me what we’d cover or asked what I wanted to cover, and the price felt fair and in line with the market.
HR and recruitment in Singapore
Updated
Looking for trusted HR and recruitment in Singapore? Locallista connects you with vetted local professionals, ranked by reviews. Create a free account to see who they are, read real reviews and get in touch.
Latest reviews for HR and recruitment in Singapore
Real, phone-verified reviews from the community.
I hired Souhila to coach me on negotiating my compensation when joining a new company after a career break. She took time to understand my background, was very confident, and helped me reframe the conversation around the value I bring, including asking for benefits and how to address HR without making it personal. We had three calls, planned ahead, and with her guidance I got quite close to what I wanted and felt much more equipped to deliver the message. Speaking in French with her also made it easier for me. The price felt fair for my situation and worth it.
I contacted Souhila for three sessions after friends recommended her. She helped me formalize and improve my communication, define my position in the company, and get what I wanted out of my team. The service was very personalized, and customized to my industry, and it was better than I expected since I was a bit skeptical about this kind of service. Price was as expected, no surprise, felt fair. I have been very pleasantly surprised by the whole experience and it was very helpful for me.
How much does HR and recruitment cost in Singapore?
Real price ranges from the jobs our vetted HR and recruitment agencies actually do. Prices updated August 2026
Executive search
How much does executive search cost in Singapore?
Search firms charge 25% to 33% of first-year total compensation, above the 15% to 25% a contingency agency takes, and the engagement is retained rather than contingent. That is the real difference: you pay in instalments as the search progresses whether or not it produces a hire, and in exchange the firm works the role exclusively and will approach people who are not looking. On a S$250,000 package that is S$62,500 to S$82,500. It is the right model for a genuinely senior or confidential role, and an expensive way to fill a job that three agencies would have filled on contingency.
- Retained search
- 25% to 33% of first-year package
- On a S$250,000 package
- S$62,500 to S$82,500
- Contingency instead
- 15% to 25%
Freelance and contract staffing
How much does contract staffing cost in Singapore?
Contract and temporary staffing is not a percentage of salary but an ongoing hourly or monthly rate that bundles the worker's pay, the statutory costs and the agency's margin. So you are quoted one number per month and the agency remains the employer of record. That structure is why it suits short projects and cover: no CPF administration, no termination process, and the agency carries the compliance. Compare it against a direct hire properly, since a Singaporean or PR employee costs 1.17 to 1.25 times base salary once CPF is added, and the contract rate should be judged against that total rather than against base pay.
- Contract staffing
- bundled monthly rate
- Direct hire, total employer cost
- 1.17x to 1.25x base salary
- Employer CPF
- 17% up to S$8,000 a month
Job ad writing and candidate screening
How much does candidate screening cost in Singapore?
Screening is not usually sold separately: it is inside the 15% to 25% placement fee, which is what you are paying for beyond the introduction. Agencies that unbundle it quote per project. If your volume is high enough that the percentage model hurts, that is the point to look at a fixed-fee or subscription recruiter, or at hiring an internal recruiter, since a Singaporean or PR hire costs 1.17 to 1.25 times salary and an in-house recruiter paying for themselves at four or five placements a year is straightforward arithmetic. Ask what screening actually means, because a CV sift and a structured interview are different things at the same price.
- Inside a placement fee
- 15% to 25% of salary
- Unbundled screening
- quoted per project
- In-house recruiter, total cost
- 1.17x to 1.25x salary
Recruitment and hiring
How much does a recruitment agency charge in Singapore?
Permanent placement is charged as a percentage of the hire's first-year salary, not a flat fee, and in Singapore that is commonly 15% to 25%. Large multinational agencies sit at 18% to 25%, local and sector specialists at 15% to 22%. On a S$72,000 role that is roughly S$10,800 to S$18,000. The fee is a guide rather than a fixed price and is negotiable, particularly on volume. Remember the agency fee is not the cost of hiring: employer CPF of 17% on wages up to the S$8,000 monthly ceiling means a Singaporean or PR hire costs about 1.17 to 1.25 times base salary before any agency is involved.
- Contingency placement
- 15% to 25% of annual salary
- Large multinational agency
- 18% to 25%
- Local or sector specialist
- 15% to 22%
- On a S$72,000 role
- S$10,800 to S$18,000
Employment contracts
How much does an employment contract cost in Singapore?
Contract drafting is quoted per document by an HR consultancy or an employment lawyer rather than priced as a percentage. Where an agency places the hire, a standard contract is generally included inside the 15% to 25% fee. Singapore's Employment Act sets the floor on terms regardless of what a contract says, so the value of paying for one is getting the parts the Act does not cover right: notice, confidentiality, intellectual property and any restraint clause. A template downloaded from the internet and never reviewed is the common false economy, since it is usually written for another country's law.
- Included with a placement
- inside the 15% to 25% fee
- Drafted separately
- quoted per document
- Employer CPF for context
- 17% up to S$8,000 a month
HR policies and compliance
How much does HR compliance support cost in Singapore?
Quoted per engagement or as a monthly retainer rather than off a rate card, and for a small company it is often bought alongside payroll. What you are buying is knowing the rules: the Employment Act, CPF at 17% on wages up to the S$8,000 ceiling, the Skills Development Levy, work pass conditions and the Tripartite Guidelines on fair hiring, which MOM enforces in practice. The employer of record route is the alternative for a company with only one or two people here, since it puts the compliance burden on the provider rather than on you, and is often cheaper than getting it wrong once.
- Compliance support
- quoted per engagement
- Employer CPF
- 17% up to S$8,000 a month
- Total employer cost
- 1.17x to 1.25x base salary
Onboarding new staff
How much does onboarding cost in Singapore?
Onboarding is normally part of an HR service or an employer of record arrangement rather than a separate purchase, and where an agency handles it, it sits inside the placement fee of 15% to 25% of salary. The cost that is unavoidable is statutory: employer CPF at 17% on wages up to the S$8,000 monthly ceiling, which rose from S$7,400 in January 2026, plus the Skills Development Levy. Together those bring total employer cost to roughly 1.17 to 1.25 times base salary. For a foreign hire, add Employment Pass processing, which costs time as much as money and should be started early.
- Employer CPF
- 17% up to S$8,000 a month
- Total employer cost
- 1.17x to 1.25x base salary
- On a S$72,000 role
- about S$84,000 to S$90,000
Pay and benefits advice
How much does pay benchmarking cost in Singapore?
Salary benchmarking is usually free from recruitment agencies, who publish annual guides by role and seniority to win business, and that is genuinely the first place to look. Paid consultancy is quoted per engagement. Useful public anchors: median gross monthly income is about S$5,775, unemployment sits near 2%, and total employer cost runs 1.17 to 1.25 times base salary once CPF and the Skills Development Levy are added. Budget on the total rather than the headline salary, because the gap is what surprises companies setting up here for the first time.
- Agency salary guides
- free
- Paid benchmarking
- quoted per engagement
- Total employer cost
- 1.17x to 1.25x base salary
Payroll support
How much does payroll support cost in Singapore?
Payroll is priced per employee per month and is one of the cheaper things to outsource, commonly around S$15 to S$40 a head, usually bought alongside bookkeeping at S$80 to S$500 a month depending on company size. What it buys you is the CPF submission done correctly and on time, which is the part that generates penalties when it is wrong. Employer CPF is 17% on ordinary wages up to the S$8,000 monthly ceiling for employees aged 55 and under. If you have fewer than about five staff, doing it yourself is feasible; beyond that, the fee is smaller than the time.
- Payroll, per employee per month
- S$15 to S$40
- With bookkeeping, per month
- S$80 to S$500
- Employer CPF
- 17% up to S$8,000 a month
Frequently Asked Questions
What people want to know before hiring HR and recruitment in Singapore.