Firms will have to pay their full-time local workers at least $1,000 a month in order to hire foreigners as part of new requirements announced by Acting Minister Tan Chuan-Jin in Parliament on Thursday.

Firms can hire foreign workers up to their allocated maximum proportion of foreigners in a firm or what is calculated using the Dependency Ratio Ceiling.

The salary of local workers are taken into consideration when calculating this ratio.

Currently, a local worker who earns at least $850 is considered a full-time worker. While a local worker who earns half the amount is deemed as working part-time.