Some 500 companies have been placed on a government watch list for not doing enough to hire Singaporeans, double the 250 on the list this time last year, said Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say as he warned that such firms will be taken to task. Mr Lim said these companies have the “pre-conceived ideas” that local professionals, managers and executives (PMETs) are “either unable or unwilling to do the job”. “So they write them off without even considering them fairly … Their Employment Pass applications are subjected to additional scrutiny,” the minister added. Mr Lim said then that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had placed 250 companies on the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) watch list. The firms were from the information and communication technology, professional services, and financial & insurance activities industries. Under the FCF, which was implemented in August 2014, rules were put in place to ensure that firms consider locals for job openings. Being placed on the watch list means that the MOM will scrutinise these firms’ EP applications more closely.