Non-Traditional Sources Occupation List Expansion 2026

From 1 September 2026, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) added eight occupations to Singapore's Non-Traditional Sources (NTS) Occupation List: butchers, fishmongers and related food preparers; food or drink stall assistants; kitchen assistants; waiters; cabin attendants; babysitters or infant caregivers; educarers; and teacher aides. The NTS list is a restricted Work Permit pathway, not a general opening for all occupations or employers (MOM, NTS Occupation List, accessed 2 September 2026).

Common NTS restrictions

Employers using the NTS Occupation List must remain within an 8% sub-Dependency Ratio Ceiling for NTS Work Permit holders, pay a fixed monthly salary of at least S$2,000, and ensure each worker performs only the occupation stated on the Work Permit. The pathway covers specified source countries and regions, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand, as well as other approved NTS arrangements described by MOM (MOM, NTS Occupation List).

Food-services occupations

For the four food-services occupations, the firm must have a Services-sector work-pass account and a valid Singapore Food Agency (SFA) Food Shop or Supermarket licence. The licence must be in the firm's name as registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). A Work Permit application therefore depends on both the listed occupation and the employer's qualifying food-business licence (MOM, requirements for new NTS occupations).

Air transportation and childcare occupations

For cabin attendants, the firm must hold a valid Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS)-issued Singapore Air Operator Certificate or Foreign Operator's Permit and, for the latter, operate scheduled services to or from Singapore. For childcare workers — babysitters or infant caregivers, child or after-school-care centre workers also called educarers, and teacher aides — the firm must hold a valid Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC) licence or be appointed by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) under the ChildMinding Pilot. These are employer licence conditions, not merely worker qualifications (MOM, requirements for new NTS occupations).

Scope and occupation boundary

The NTS pathway supplements sector-specific Work Permit rules. It does not remove the employer's other obligations, the quota and levy framework, or the rule that a Work Permit holder may work only for the employer and in the occupation and sector specified on the permit. The eight additions should therefore be read as occupation eligibility subject to employer licensing and NTS conditions, not as an unrestricted source-country or labour-market change (MOM, NTS Occupation List; MOM, Work Permit conditions).