Retrenchments in Singapore rose to 4,620 in the second quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly figure since the final quarter of 2020.
The figure was up from 3,830 retrenchments in the first quarter. This also pushed the retrenchment rate from 1.6 to 2.0 workers per 1,000 employees.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM), which released its full second-quarter labour market report on Monday, 21 September, said Singapore’s labour market remained resilient overall, though some indicators pointed to softer conditions for workers.
Retrenchments Driven by Restructuring in Several Sectors
According to MOM, the increase in retrenchments was mainly due to business reorganisation and restructuring in outward-oriented industries.
Manufacturing, information and communications, and financial services were among the sectors where the increase was concentrated.
The final figure of 4,620 is also slightly higher than MOM’s preliminary estimate of 4,500 retrenchments released on 31 July. At the time, MOM had already said the quarterly total was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2020, when 5,640 workers were retrenched.
Retrenched residents also appeared to be taking longer to find another job.
Among residents who had been retrenched, 54.9 per cent were back in employment six months later, down from 60.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
However, the proportion who had returned to employment within 12 months remained relatively stable, rising slightly from 69.4 per cent to 69.8 per cent.
Job Vacancies Fell to 68,600
The number of job vacancies also declined, from 73,300 in March to 68,600 in June.
MOM said the decrease mainly came from fewer vacancies for professionals, managers, executives and technicians, or PMETs, in financial services and information and communications.
There were nevertheless still more available jobs than unemployed people.
Singapore had 1.48 job vacancies for every unemployed person in June, similar to the ratio of 1.46 in March.
Entry-level PMET openings also remained relatively steady. There were 31,700 such vacancies in June, accounting for 45.3 per cent of all vacancies.
Employment Still Grew and Unemployment Remained Low
The weaker indicators did not mean that employment as a whole was shrinking.
Total employment increased by 11,400 during the second quarter, marking the 19th consecutive quarter of employment growth. Resident employment grew by 2,200, although that was slower than the 5,400 increase recorded in the first quarter.
Most of the overall increase came from non-resident employment, which grew by 9,200, largely among Work Permit holders in construction and manufacturing.
Unemployment rates also remained relatively stable in June, at 1.9 per cent overall, 2.9 per cent among residents and 3.0 per cent among Singapore citizens.
The resident long-term unemployment rate, which covers those unemployed for at least six months, edged up from 0.9 per cent in March to 1.0 per cent in June.
MOM’s July survey of businesses offered a mixed picture for the months ahead. The proportion of firms planning to hire in the next three months increased from 43.9 per cent in June to 48.7 per cent in July, but both hiring and wage-increase expectations remained below their levels in February.
