Baktee
Total employment in the first quarter of 2018 grew by 400, a reversal from the downward trend of -9400 in the same period of 2017.
These figures were released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in its latest Labour Market Report on 13 June 2018.
The figure for total employment was revised from the expected -2100 reported in the Labour Market Advance Release in April this year.
According to the Manpower Ministry, employment growth in community, social and personal services, financial and insurance services, information and communications, transportation and storage, and professional services helped to offset the decline in work permit holders in construction and marine.
Fewer Retrenchments
The number of workers retrenched declined to 2,320 in the first quarter of the year, lower than the last quarter of 2017, which stood at 3,680. This number is also the lowest in five years.
Retrenchments were spread across the manufacturing, construction and services sectors, with the main reason cited as business restructuring and reorganisation.
Some 61 per cent of retrenched workers managed to find new employment within six months, down from the 63 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017.
The decline was most notable among professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETS), those with diploma and post-secondary qualifications, as well as those aged 30-39.
Meanwhile, the re-entry rate rose among those aged below 30 and over 50, and those with below secondary education.
In a Facebook post, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay commented that despite improvements in the labour market, Singapore needs to remain watchful of several areas including structural challenges such as skills and jobs mismatches, the mature-worker and PME groups.
Touching on retrenchments, he said: “For the first half of 2018, I expect retrenchment figures to remain low but we will expect to still see pockets of layoffs due to re-organisation, restructuring and re-strategisation amidst technological/digital disruption and the rise of cloud, machine and crowd.”
There were also more job vacancies than unemployed persons for the first time since March 2016.
Job Opportunities
In a press release, the Manpower Ministry said that overall labour demand is expected to expand, but unevenly across sectors.
The ministry predicted that there would be job opportunities in services sectors but warned that hiring is expected to remain cautious in construction and marine shipyard.
The ministry also said that further improvements to the resident unemployment rate of 2.8 per cent will be more difficult to attain as the figure is the lowest since March 2016.
“To keep unemployment low, it is critical to prepare workers and businesses to be agile and responsive to economic restructuring and the evolving employment landscape. MOM and Workforce Singapore will support workers in upgrading their skillsets for new opportunities through the Adapt and Grow initiative while helping businesses to innovate and transform through the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme and the Capability Transfer Programme,” said MOM.
