Minister For Manpower also asked if employers should be more transparent in job ads
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower has rejected a suggestion that employers be required to provide unsuccessful job applicants with a reason for their rejection.
"The suggestion to require employers to furnish unsuccessful interviewees with a reason for their rejection would be very onerous for employers as hiring decisions are often based on a host of considerations involving multiple decision-makers, and including confidential matters such as the relative performance of other candidates," said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng in a response to a question in parliament.
Tan also pointed out that both large and small firms would face challenges if they were asked to provide reasons for all unsuccessful candidates.
"Smaller employers may have more limited human resource capabilities and find it challenging to provide individual responses to every applicant, while larger employers typically receive substantial numbers of job applications," he said in the response.
"Mandating that all employers must provide reasons for rejection to each applicant would thus create significant operational burdens and compliance costs for both small and larger employers."
However, Tan encouraged both employers and job applicants to provide constructive feedback to each other.
"The Workplace Fairness Act, when brought into force, will also safeguard merit-based hiring and provide jobseekers with recourse if they have been subjected to discrimination during the selection process," he said.
Mandating transparency in job postings
Meanwhile, Tan also warned against requiring organisations to provide all details in job postings, such as salary ranges, job descriptions, and expected recruitment timelines.
He acknowledged that some employers may wish to keep job postings broader for competitive and confidentiality reasons.
"Mandating that employers must lock in and provide these details upfront can have the unintended effect of limiting the pool of applicants and turning away jobseekers whom employers would have been prepared to negotiate with and make adjustments for," the minister added.
He noted that it would also counter the government's push to encourage employers to consider applicants who may have less experience and qualifications but are willing to learn.
Despite this, Tan said the ministry is encouraging employers to post as much detail as they can in job postings.
"Clear job postings can be mutually beneficial for employers and job seekers by reducing search costs for both sides," he said.
"As a baseline, the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices stipulate that selection criteria should be stated clearly in job advertisements."
In Singapore, there is a growing demand for pay transparency in workplaces from employees. Findings from Deel revealed that 71% of employees are already comfortable with industry-wide salary disclosure.
So far, 21% of job postings have disclosed their pay as of July 2025, according to data from Indeed. This is below the average of 30% from 2023 to 2024.
