Maid Agency Fees in Singapore
How much is the maid agency fees recently? Well the simple answer is agency fees have gone up a lot and there is a good reason for this. Supply and demand. We are still not out of this pandemic but when the whole nation was observing the first Phase of Circuit Breaker, it was near impossible to hire a domestic helper even if you are willing to pay a fortune simply because our Government, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) was not approving any Foreign Domestic Worker's (FDW) Work Permit applications unless you have a very very good reason why you need a maid immediately. This was the Government's response to enforce super strict social distancing and unnecessary movements.
Therefore, even if the domestic helper was on transfer and in Singapore, the FDW's Work Permit application was constantly being rejected despite numerous appeals to no avail. Not forgetting to mention, there were many domestic helpers who were stuck overseas. In their own countries, they were facing lockdowns and all flights were cancelled. There was no end in sight as to when the domestic helpers can finally fly in to Singapore, so when the Government finally proceed to the second Phase of the Circuit Breaker, things were getting a bit better. However, a new set of problems arise, the additional financial burden that an employer has to bear if he or she wishes to continue to bring in the foreign domestic helper from overseas.
Employers are now stuck in a big dilemma, to spend $1,700 ($1,500 for Stay-Home Notice SHN + $200 for Covid-19 Test), to continue to wait due to constant flight cancellations or simply to go for a transfer domestic helper who is already in Singapore. Hence, hiring a transfer domestic helper allowed the employer to avoid paying $1,700 and also avoid waiting endlessly for their maid to fly in. The obvious and popular choice is to hire a transfer domestic helper as a result.
Due to the pent-up demand created over many months of no activity as domestic helpers couldn't fly in to Singapore to replace some of the foreign domestic helpers that have decided to go home to take a break, retire or simply wasn't allowed to transfer by their current employer, there was a sudden surge in demand for transfer maids. This pent-up demand has caused the maid agency fee to rise as a result and also mainly due to a lack of supply because for employers who still have their foreign domestic helper have now decided to keep their current helper instead of hiring another one to replace her. This supply is helped somewhat by expatriates leaving the country as our economy shrank and also due to the Government's call for companies to hire more locals instead. But it isn't enough to satisfy the demand.
Many maid agencies ended folding up their business because they have no transfer maids at all and are clueless when they can start bringing in foreign domestic helpers from overseas, unlike our maid agency, Universal Employment Agency Pte Ltd who has always specialise in the placement of transfer maids. We do have a steady but dwindling supply of transfer maids. However, we do have the biggest following / presence on Facebook as compared to other maid agencies in Singapore and we are usually the first maid agency that comes to mind when a domestic helper wants to transfer. So through word of mouth, more and more employers have come to know that our reputable and highly rated maid agency is one of the few maid agencies in Singapore to have transfer maids available.
But even relying only on placement of transfer maids isn't enough to make up for the loss business for not being able to bring in a foreign domestic helper from overseas over an extended period of time, hence to make up for the loss business in the overseas segment, maid agencies in Singapore have no choice but to push up their agency fees to the point whereby anywhere between $1,500 to $1,900 is the norm as reported recently in the local newspaper, Lianhe Zaobao.
In conclusion, is it more expensive to hire a transfer maid now? The simple answer is yes! So if you currently have a maid, the best advice we can offer is to convince her to continue working for your family. You might wish to offer her a better salary as it makes sense to keep her, a trusted member of the family rather than welcome a new maid whom will cost you a lot of money with no guarantee she will work out well with your family. But is it more expensive to hire a maid from overseas now? The answer is an obvious yes! For having to fork out $1,700 to be paid to our Government, hiring a maid from overseas will now easily cost you more than $5,000 after taking into account all the agency fees to be paid to the maid agency and also the placement of the foreign domestic helper. Then what about the estimated total costs to hire a domestic helper on transfer? It will be roughly half the cost of hiring a foreign domestic helper currently from overseas.
So are you ready to hire a transfer maid? If yes, then we applaud you for making the right decision. Do get in touch with us at 6735 3456 or do make an appointment to meet us at our office at Lucky Plaza #03-52, Singapore 233863 to discuss further.
(Photo: Maid Agency Fee article as reported in Lianhe Zhaobao)
Therefore, even if the domestic helper was on transfer and in Singapore, the FDW's Work Permit application was constantly being rejected despite numerous appeals to no avail. Not forgetting to mention, there were many domestic helpers who were stuck overseas. In their own countries, they were facing lockdowns and all flights were cancelled. There was no end in sight as to when the domestic helpers can finally fly in to Singapore, so when the Government finally proceed to the second Phase of the Circuit Breaker, things were getting a bit better. However, a new set of problems arise, the additional financial burden that an employer has to bear if he or she wishes to continue to bring in the foreign domestic helper from overseas.
Employers are now stuck in a big dilemma, to spend $1,700 ($1,500 for Stay-Home Notice SHN + $200 for Covid-19 Test), to continue to wait due to constant flight cancellations or simply to go for a transfer domestic helper who is already in Singapore. Hence, hiring a transfer domestic helper allowed the employer to avoid paying $1,700 and also avoid waiting endlessly for their maid to fly in. The obvious and popular choice is to hire a transfer domestic helper as a result.
Due to the pent-up demand created over many months of no activity as domestic helpers couldn't fly in to Singapore to replace some of the foreign domestic helpers that have decided to go home to take a break, retire or simply wasn't allowed to transfer by their current employer, there was a sudden surge in demand for transfer maids. This pent-up demand has caused the maid agency fee to rise as a result and also mainly due to a lack of supply because for employers who still have their foreign domestic helper have now decided to keep their current helper instead of hiring another one to replace her. This supply is helped somewhat by expatriates leaving the country as our economy shrank and also due to the Government's call for companies to hire more locals instead. But it isn't enough to satisfy the demand.
Many maid agencies ended folding up their business because they have no transfer maids at all and are clueless when they can start bringing in foreign domestic helpers from overseas, unlike our maid agency, Universal Employment Agency Pte Ltd who has always specialise in the placement of transfer maids. We do have a steady but dwindling supply of transfer maids. However, we do have the biggest following / presence on Facebook as compared to other maid agencies in Singapore and we are usually the first maid agency that comes to mind when a domestic helper wants to transfer. So through word of mouth, more and more employers have come to know that our reputable and highly rated maid agency is one of the few maid agencies in Singapore to have transfer maids available.
But even relying only on placement of transfer maids isn't enough to make up for the loss business for not being able to bring in a foreign domestic helper from overseas over an extended period of time, hence to make up for the loss business in the overseas segment, maid agencies in Singapore have no choice but to push up their agency fees to the point whereby anywhere between $1,500 to $1,900 is the norm as reported recently in the local newspaper, Lianhe Zaobao.
In conclusion, is it more expensive to hire a transfer maid now? The simple answer is yes! So if you currently have a maid, the best advice we can offer is to convince her to continue working for your family. You might wish to offer her a better salary as it makes sense to keep her, a trusted member of the family rather than welcome a new maid whom will cost you a lot of money with no guarantee she will work out well with your family. But is it more expensive to hire a maid from overseas now? The answer is an obvious yes! For having to fork out $1,700 to be paid to our Government, hiring a maid from overseas will now easily cost you more than $5,000 after taking into account all the agency fees to be paid to the maid agency and also the placement of the foreign domestic helper. Then what about the estimated total costs to hire a domestic helper on transfer? It will be roughly half the cost of hiring a foreign domestic helper currently from overseas.
So are you ready to hire a transfer maid? If yes, then we applaud you for making the right decision. Do get in touch with us at 6735 3456 or do make an appointment to meet us at our office at Lucky Plaza #03-52, Singapore 233863 to discuss further.
(Photo: Maid Agency Fee article as reported in Lianhe Zhaobao)
