By Ramesh Subbaraman
With the Singapore economy moving into its final quarter and expected to grow by 2.0 – 2.5 per cent in 2015, the Manpower Ministry said, barring unexpected shocks in the external economy, labour demand for 2015 is expected to remain firm.
However, there could be cautious hiring expectations in some segments of the economy.
Giving a progress report of the labour market in the first half of 2015 and the outlook for the rest of the year, MOM emphasised that strengthening the Singaporean Core and supporting the restructuring towards a manpower-lean economy driven by productivity remain paramount.
Future Outlook
For the rest of this year, local employment growth is expected to moderate significantly.
This follows two years of strong growth, which was due to increases in the working-age population, as well as significant gains in resident Labour Force Participation Rates.
Moving forward, these effects will be much smaller given the slower growth of the local working-age population, and limits to increasing the overall Labour Force Participation Rates, which are already among the highest in the world.
Taking these factors into account, MOM projected a lower local workforce growth, coming down to an average of 20,000 per annum for the last part of this decade.
Support For PMEs
As the economy restructures, some consolidation and exit of less-productive businesses is also expected.
MOM said the Career Support Programme, to be launched in October 2015, will help displaced mature Professionals, Managers and Executives find quality jobs and careers, in addition to existing Professional Conversion Programmes.
MOM and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) stand ready to help displaced local workers re-skill and upgrade so that they are well-positioned to take on the new quality jobs created.
The Ministry also added that it will continue with efforts to strengthen the Singaporean Core and reduce reliance on foreign manpower by following through with the implementation of previously-announced foreign workforce tightening measures.
The recent enhancements to the Fair Consideration Framework and Jobs Bank will also ensure that Singaporeans have fair opportunities for quality jobs in the market.
Fast Facts
Here are the highlights of the key labour market indicators between January and June 2015.
Unemployment: The rate remained low, with seasonally-adjusted citizen unemployment rate at 2.9 per cent in June 2015.
Local employment: Declined by 8,900, largely reflecting the exit of young casual workers from the workforce.
Older local workers: Continued growth in their employment.
Foreign employment: Registered the lowest half-yearly growth since 2009, with 8,000 employed in first half of 2015.
Productivity: Labour productivity remained weak- for first half 2015, falling by 0.5 per cent year-on-year.
Construction sector: Total employment growth slowed significantly, registering the slowest growth since first half of 2011.
Manufacturing: Total employment fell, with a decline in both local and foreign employment. A significant decline was observed in the Petroleum, Chemical & Pharmaceutical Products, and Transport Equipment industries.
Services: Total employment growth in the Services sector moderated significantly, largely due to a decline in local employment.
Source: NTUC This Week
