MOM Reveals Real Retrenchment Numbers For Q2 & It’s Worse Than Their Initial Estimation

By
Boon Hun
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Like my colleague said, receiving bad news during Covid-19 is like saying you need $3.50 for a bowl of mee pok.

You’re not surprised when it happens, especially when it comes to jobs.

MOM Reveals Real Retrenchment Numbers For Q2 This Year & It’s Worse Than Expected

I know what you’re thinking.

Ehh, I thought the Q2 figures were released already?!

Well, turns out, those were just estimates, according to ST, and today, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has released the real figures.

Retrenchments for the period of April to June 2020 stands at 8,130, which is more than two times the reported number of retrenchment in the January to March period of this year, 3,220.

It is also 1,430 more than what was estimated before, which was 6,700.

With this, the number of people who lost their jobs in the first half of this year has increased to 11,350.

It was added that the retrenchment figures could’ve been worse if not for the government’s financial support and help to keep Singaporeans employed, as well as the companies’ own cost-cutting measures.

Other Statistics

Besides retrenchment figures, MOM also provided a few more statistics:

  • 81,720 employees temporarily laid off or moved to shorter work weeks
  • Singapore residents (Singaporeans and PRs) made up a bulk of the 42,190 employees who were shifted to shorter workweeks
  • Foreign talents were the majority of the 43,720 who were laid off.
  • The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Singaporeans has increased to 4.3% in July 2020.
  • However, the resident unemployment rate at the end of June was slightly lower than expected, at 3.8%.
  • The country’s unemployment rate (for everybody) has increased to 3% in July.
  • Total employment shrinkage wasn’t as bad as feared either; previously, it was estimated at 121,800; at the final tally, total employment only shrank (the word only is for relativity’s sake) 103,500.
  • Foreign employment has fallen by 5.7%, compared to 2.7% for local employment.

TODAY also reported that job vacancies are said to have increased in a few sectors, including financial services, wholesale trade, F&B, administrative and support services, as well as public administration and education.

MOM has also said they’ll report the figures on a monthly basis instead of on a quarterly basis to better inform policy-making.

Previously:

When MOM reported an estimate for the second quarter of the year, they said that there was an increase in retrenchments across all three broad sectors in the second quarter.

The broad sectors are (in the order of their degree of seriousness):

  • Services
  • Construction
  • Manufacturing

In the services sector, the highest-affected industries are:

  • F&B
  • Retail
  • Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
  • Education

Construction also saw a “steep decline in employment” while manufacturing’s employment contract is “modest” (read: not too bad) when compared to the other two.

It’s safe to say that things will remain in this state for some time to come.

Or worsen as some companies might reach the end of the line and needed to start cutting parts of itself off to survive.

For those who are thinking of what to do next for your career, our advice is to head where the jobs are likely to be at.

Here’s a little something to point you towards help if you just need something to help you along.

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Boon Hun
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