Advance estimates showed that resident employment expanded, albeit slower, in 2Q 2021. Unemployment rates, though not back to pre-pandemic levels, saw further easing in June 2021, with retrenchments increasing slightly from Q1 2021.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) issued its findings in the Labour Market Advance Release on 30 July 2021.
MOM attributed the slow growth to the Government’s implementation of the COVID-19 Phase Two (Heightened Alert) measures between 16 May to 13 June 2021 which likely impacted the growth of domestically oriented sectors.
Speaking to the press, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said that the ministry expects to see more challenges in the months ahead.
With the return to Phase Two (Heightened Alert), he said: “We can expect that the restrictions on the inflow of migrant workers to continue, as a result of public health considerations, as well as the rise in the Delta variant globally. This is expected to weigh in on the unevenness of the labour market.”
Dr Tan also wanted to encourage workers and business affected by the recent challenges to press on, saying that the Government will continue to support local hiring, as well as those who wish to pivot to different industries.
“This road to recovery has many twists and turns, but I am confident that we can overcome the pandemic and emerge stronger,” he said.
The modest increase in resident employment was outpaced by the continued decline in non-resident employment. The total employment, excluding Migrant Domestic Workers (MDWs), fell by 15,700 in 2Q 2021.
Manpower Permanent Secretary Aubeck Kam shared that while resident employment growth continues to be positive, non-resident continues to be negative.
He also said: “We have seen that the domestic oriented sectors have actually not provided the driver for internal growth, although the outward oriented sectors continue to do well on that front.”
Domestically oriented sectors that were more directly impacted by the tighter measures were the food & beverages services as well as retail trade.
Outward-oriented sectors that saw resident employment growth included the Information & Communications sector, Professional Services, as well as in Community, Social & Personal Services.
Non-resident employment declined more sharply across most sectors. This was due to the inability to have departing workers replaced because of tightened border restrictions to manage the virus.
Overall unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percentage point in June 2021, falling from 2.8 down to 2.7 per cent.
Resident unemployment saw the same decline, dipping from 3.8 to 3.7 per cent.
Citizen unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage point, from 4.0 per cent in May 2021 to 3.8 per cent in June 2021.
Retrenchments rose from 2,270 to 2,500 from the first quarter.
According to MOM, employers cited re-organisation, restructuring, or business downturn within their industry, as common reasons for layoffs.
The ministry expects the incidence of retrenchments in 2Q 2021 to be similar to that of 1Q 2021, saying that the figures will be comparable to those seen in 2018 and 2019.
