On 12 December 2019, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) released some key indicators of the labour market situation for Q3. These reflected a mixed situation. Positively, employment and re-entry rates increased, and retrenchments stayed low. However, unemployment and long-term unemployment rates also increased at the same time.
On 12 December 2019, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) released some key indicators of the labour market situation for Q3. These reflected a mixed situation. Positively, employment and re-entry rates increased, and retrenchments stayed low. However, unemployment and long-term unemployment rates also increased at the same time.
Some key findings and recommendations include:
– The pace of employment growth picked up. Total employment (excluding foreign domestic workers) grew by 21,700, higher than the previous quarter (6,200) and a year ago (16,700). When the Construction industry was excluded, the increase (30,400) was similar to that in same period last year (30,300).
– The bulk of total employment growth came from the Services sector, led by Modern Services (consisting of professional services, information & communications and financial & insurance services), Community, Social & Personal Services, and Administrative & Support Services.
– However, unemployment rates also inched up, from 3.2% in Q2 2019 to 3.3% in Q3 2019. This also applied to residents (from 3.1% to 3.2%) and citizens (from 3.2% to 3.3%).
– Retrenchments stayed low (2,430 compared to 2,860 in 3Q 2018), though they were higher than the previous quarter (2,320). The top reason cited for retrenchments was business restructuring and re-organisation. The majority (73%) of retrenched locals were previously in PMET jobs, as they formed a higher share of the workforce, and were more prone to retrenchments than non-PMETs.
– The overall labour turnover remained stable with a 2.2% recruitment rate, same as Q2 2019. As a general guide, labour turnover is measured by recruitment and resignation rates, and tends to be high when job openings are plentiful and low during economic downturns.
– While job vacancies fell, opportunities remain available especially for PMETs in Services sectors. These sectors include Community, Social & Personal Services, Financial & Insurance Services, Professional Services and Information & Communications.
– To help those who are unemployed to reskill for new jobs, WSG and NTUC’s e2i are increasing the capacity of Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) and Place-and-Train Programmes under the A&G initiative. Jobseekers needing assistance may wish to visit WSG’s Careers Connect and NTUC-e2i’s career centres. The JobsCentral Learning portal has a comprehensive list of course that help jobseekers and working professionals upgrade and enhance their skills and competencies.
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