Job Vacancies In Q2 2019 Continue to Decline; Fewer Vacancies Than Unemployed Persons

Desperately seeking a job right now? Well, I hate to burst your already-popped bubble…

But your struggles might’ve just intensified. Like legit.

According to the Ministry of Manpower’s latest labour market report released yesterday (12 September 2019), the number of job vacancies offered on the market has continued to decline from the previous quarter, as the resident unemployment rate edged upwards.

But just how bad is it? Well here’s a rough gauge:

There are now fewer job vacancies than unemployed personnel in question.

Just let that sink in for a moment, alright?

Job Vacancies In Q2 2019 Continue to Decline; Fewer Vacancies Than Unemployed Persons

Hiring sentiments have been rather cautious for the second quarter of this year (2019), and the stats have proved it.

According to the Ministry of Manpower’s latest labour market report, the number of job vacancies on the market has continued to decline from the previous quarter as the resident unemployment rate increased.

And to put it into perspective, here’s a key finding: for the first time since December 2017, there were fewer job vacancies than unemployed persons.

In March this year, there were 108 job vacancies per 100 job seekers. Fast forward a couple of months and the figure reads 93 job openings per 100 job seekers in June.

Yes ladies and gentlemen; a storm’s brewing.

Why Though?

Now I bet you’re wondering:

“Why? Why the sudden change? What’s happening? Is it global warming? It’s global warming, isn’t it? Goddamit ice caps I told you to stop melting now look what you’ve done to the jobs in Singapore.”

And in response, I can only say that it’s not because of global warming. Nope. Rather, according to economists TODAYonline previously spoke to, the cautious hiring approach adopted by employers can largely be attributed to one thing:

Global headwinds.

And to exemplify, one doesn’t need to look further than the trade tensions between the United States and China, China’s slowdown and the risk of a no-deal Brexit.

“Until we see signs of a growth pickup and the resolution of some of these uncertainties, the job vacancies may remain somewhat muted,” said Ms Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at OCBC Bank.

Things Are Expected To Deteriorate Even Further Too

Which would seem to be a bad thing, because as DBS Senior Consultant Irvin Seah quite aptly puts it: the main gauge of the health of the labour market is the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons. And now that the ratio’s working against job seekers in general, things might really be going…

South.

“It has remained above one for several quarters. Now it’s below one — which essentially means there are fewer job vacancies than unemployed persons… It does suggest that the labour market is really turning south,” he added.

And apparently, things aren’t exactly gonna look up in the third quarter, as Maybank Kim Eng’s economist Chua Hak Bin aired his prediction:

Employment growth would probably “fall to near zero in the third quarter” as recent manpower surveys point to more muted hiring.

But Hey, If There’s Any Consolation…

It’s that it’s not all bad. 

Kinda.

According to TODAYonline, MOM noted that the  “retrenchments remained low and the resident long-term unemployment rate held steady”.

To put it in statistics, the resident unemployment rate increased marginally from 3 per cent in March to 3.1 per cent in June. On the other hand, the seasonally-adjusted resident long-term unemployment rate (which refers to the number of people unemployed for at least 25 weeks) remained unchanged at 0.7 per cent.

So yeah, it might be harder to find a job…

But it might just be harder to get laid off your current job too.

For more deets on the entire unemployment fiasco, you can click on this link.

For needed consolation because you still can’t find a job, you can always approach our office. While we probably can’t give you a job, you can always count on our young, eligible writers to lend you a helping hand.

“Is this a joke?” asked one colleague. “Kindness died ages ago.”

Oh well, in that case we could always give you napkins.

To dry those tears of yours.