The Manpower Ministry (MOM) may work with private jobs banks to better match Singaporean job seekers with vacancies, even as it sets up a national jobs bank.

"We are more than open to consider how we can collaborate with private jobs portals," said Acting Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin in Parliament on Monday.

Last month, the MOM announced that firms that want to hire foreign professionals must first advertise for Singaporeans to fill the vacancies in a government-run jobs bank administered by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency.

Elaborating on the national jobs bank on Monday, Mr Tan added that the MOM will consult private jobs portals "in the months ahead to explore possible areas of collaboration that can improve the overall labour market efficiency and provide as much visibility of job opportunities to job seekers as possible".

He was responding to a question from Nominated Member of Parliament Teo Siong Seng who asked whether the national and private jobs banks will be linked for better efficiency and cost effectiveness.

Firms with 25 or fewer staff are exempted from the advertisement rule, or those hiring for jobs that paying $12,000 and above a month.

The advertisement rule is part of a broader Fair Consideration Framework that the MOM announced last month to nudge employers to give Singaporeans a fair chance at landing professional, managerial and executive jobs.