Singapore’s total employment has grown for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, signalling a continued labour market recovery.
In the first three months of 2021, total employment, excluding foreign domestic workers, rose by 12,200, surpassing the preliminary flash figure of 4,800 released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in April.
MOM released its findings in a report on 17 June 2021.
Resident employment continued to increase, outpacing the decline in non-resident employment.
The decline in non-resident employment partly reflects the restrictions on the inflow of foreign workers due to public health reasons, said MOM.
The increase in resident employment was led by industries such as infocomms, F&B Services, health and social services, administrative and support services, public administration and education, and professional services.
However, unemployment rates are still higher than pre-pandemic levels despite dropping to 2.9 per cent for the overall workforce, 4.2 per cent for Singapore Citizens and 4 per cent for residents.
The unemployment rates peaked in September last year at 3.5 per cent overall, 4.9 per cent for Singapore Citizens and 4.8 per cent for residents.
Meanwhile, retrenchment numbers returned to pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter.
The first quarter saw 2,270 retrenchments, which marked the second straight quarter of decline. However, the number was slightly higher than MOM’s preliminary estimate of 2,100 in April.
More than half of retrenchments that occurred in the first quarter were due to restructuring and re-organisation, while retrenchments due to recession or downturn in the industry made up a smaller proportion compared to the previous quarter.
Despite improvements in the labour market, it is still not fully back to its pre-pandemic state, said MOM.
The ministry also predicted that the recent tightened measures during phase two (heightened alert) will influence the continued labour market recovery in the second quarter.
“These [the recent figures] are good signs, which we are happy to see. However, our path to recovery will not be a straight road. We will be met with some twists and potential roadblocks ... Recovery is also expected to be more uneven across sectors than earlier expected,” said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Desmond Choo took to social media to weigh in on the report. He found it encouraging that more locals are getting and keeping their jobs.
He attributed the continued recovery to the sustained efforts by the Government and tripartite partners to support both employers and workers through the pandemic.
Mr Choo also called for businesses to focus on transformation and strengthen efforts to build COVID-resilience within workplaces.
“COVID-resilience within the workplace is our bulwark against an endemic COVID future. We should continue to upkeep high hygiene levels, support mental health needs of our workers and encourage workers to go for vaccination where medically possible,” he wrote.
