SINGAPORE’S job vacancies edged down in the second quarter of 2024, while fewer residents found re-employment within six months of retrenchment, based on the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Labour Market Report on Tuesday (Sep 17).
But overall labour market performance was strong, with total employment growth more than doubling from the previous quarter and unemployment rates improving.
In a media briefing, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said: “Our labour market continues to remain tight, meaning that, in general, it is easier for people to find and to keep jobs.”
“However, in the longer term, resident employment growth will moderate,” he cautioned. This is as Singapore’s labour force participation rate is already very high and resident workforce growth will slow.
As previously shown by advance figures in July, the 11,300 rise in total employment in Q2 was driven entirely by non-resident employment, which rose by 12,000. The number of work permit holders in construction and manufacturing rebounded strongly after declining in Q1.
In contrast, resident employment marginally declined by 600 in Q2, due to seasonal declines in retail trade as well as administrative and support services.
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As Singapore’s population ages and the local workforce shrinks, one key strategy is to “remain open to global talent and foreign investments that complement our resident workforce”, said Dr Tan.
Foreign-owned firms in Singapore account for a disproportionately larger share of jobs, especially higher-paying ones.
Dr Tan highlighted that about one-fifth of firms here are foreign-owned, but they provide jobs for nearly one-third of employed residents. Of residents earning a gross monthly income of above S$12,500, six in 10 are in such firms.
Subdued second quarter
There were 81,200 job vacancies in June, down from 81,900 in March. About a fifth were in what MOM dubbed “growth sectors”: financial and insurance services; information and communications; and professional services.
Despite the fall in job vacancies, the labour market remained tight. The ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons rose to 1.67 in June, up from 1.56 in March.
This was as unemployment rates improved from March. The unemployment rate was 2 per cent overall, down from 2.1 per cent; 2.7 per cent for residents, down from 3 per cent; and 2.8 per cent for citizens, down from 3.1 per cent.
The resident long-term unemployment rate was unchanged at 0.8 per cent.
Retrenchments “remained low” but rose slightly to 3,270, from 3,030 in the preceding quarter. This was driven by an increase in retrenchments in financial and insurance services as well as wholesale trade, though figures were still within the range seen in non-recessionary periods.
Most firms cited business reorganisation or restructuring as reasons for retrenchment. MOM added: “Retrenchments due to concerns of recession or downturn in the sector have declined, as local external demand outlook is expected to be resilient for the rest of 2024.”
Retrenched residents also took longer to get back into jobs. The rate of re-entry within six months fell to 55 per cent in Q2, down from 59.4 per cent in the previous quarter. But MOM added that the re-entry rate “improves significantly with time”. Within 12 months of retrenchment, seven in 10 found employment, based on data for residents who were retrenched in the first two quarters of 2023.
Looking up
For the first half of 2024 as a whole, the labour market “has performed well”, said MOM. Looking forward, it expects labour market momentum to be sustained, with wages and employment continuing to grow in tandem with economic growth.
Resident employment is expected to be boosted by growth in professional services, financial and insurance services, and information and communications, as well as the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix and year-end festivities.
As for non-resident employment, S Pass and Employment Pass (EP) numbers might rise, after both fell in Q2. The decline in S Pass holders – mainly contributed by manufacturing – slowed from Q1.
The number of EP holders fell overall, though the sectoral picture was mixed. There were more EP holders in administrative and support services as well as wholesale trade. But EP holder numbers fell in professional services, information and communications as well as financial and insurance services, following the post-pandemic surge in hiring.
“With the economy picking up, the number of higher-skilled foreign workers is expected to rebound in the medium term, if macroeconomic conditions remain positive,” said MOM.
