By Ryan Chan
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) released their key preliminary labour market findings for the second quarter of 2016 on 28 July 2016, showing a rise in unemployment and redundancies, and slowed employment growth.
During this period, unemployment rate among residents grew from 2.7 per cent to 3 per cent, with the rate for citizens also increasing from 2.6 per cent to 3.1 per cent, leading to a rise in overall unemployment rate from 1.9 per cent to 2.1 per cent.
The number of redundancies has been growing in the past five years, a trend which shows no signs of stopping. The number of workers made redundant in Q2 2016 is estimated at 5,500, the highest since figures posted during the same period of the global financial crisis of 2009. This is also higher than Q1 2016 (4,710) and Q2 2015 (3,250).
Slowed Employment Growth
Employment grew by 5,500, a drop from the 13,000 in the first quarter of 2016, and lower than the 9,700 for the same period in 2015. Much of this growth was due in part to the services sector, but the decline in the manufacturing sector continued.
This left the total employment figure for June 2016 at 3,674,000. This is 1.3 per cent higher than 2015, and similar to the 1.4 per cent growth achieved in March 2016.
Helping Affected Workers
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) Cham Hui Fong said that there is a growing number of workers getting retrenched as more firms opt for a shorter work week and temporary shut-downs in a bid to reduce cost.
ASG Cham said: “In the unionised sectors, we also note a steady rise in the number of retrenched workers as more firms, particularly in the manufacturing sector, opt for shorter work weeks and temporary shut downs. Some 2,329 workers were laid off in the first half of 2016 compared to 492 workers in the same period last year.
“When retrenchment is inevitable, we urge companies to conduct it in a fair and sensitive way. For unionised companies, our unions will work closely with management to provide affected workers assistance from NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) such as skills training, career coaching and job matching, among others.
“Whilst the unemployment rate of Singaporeans has crept up, there are still job vacancies that need to be filled. We need to focus on reskilling working people to meet evolving industry needs so that they are able to find jobs in the shortest possible time.”
e2i CEO Gilbert Tan also said the institute will work closely with unions and companies to offer assistance to affected workers.
“Our officers provide career guidance support, training advisory and employment facilitation services to help the displaced workers transit to their next jobs. But overall, workers would also need to align their skill sets and attitude with the available job positions to ensure a successful job match,” he added.
Source: NTUC This Week
