Highlighted updates
- Labour Market Report First Quarter 2021 [New 17 June]
- Labour market indicators for 1Q 2021 point to the continued recovery of Singapore’s labour market from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Sharper than expected increase in total employment
- Resident employment continued to increase, outpacing the decline in non-resident employment.
- Decline in non-resident employment partly reflects the restrictions on the inflow of foreign workers due to public health reasons.
- Unemployment rates eased, but remained elevated
- Retrenchments and rate of re-entry into employment returned to pre-pandemic levels
- There were fewer retrenchments across sectors.
- More than half of retrenchments which occurred in 1Q 2021 were due to restructuring and re-organization.
- Number of employees placed on short work-week or temporary layoff halved
- Ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons improved, as number of job vacancies trended up
- The number of job vacancies (seasonally adjusted) increased further to 68,400 in March 2021, exceeding the last high of 65,500 in March 2015.
- The ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons improved to nearly 1 job vacancy for every unemployed person in March 2021 (0.96).
- Ratio in March 2021 was within the range observed in pre-COVID years of 2018 – 2019.
- To enable employers to access a wider pool of candidates to fill growing vacancies, the Government has put in place various schemes that support local hiring, reskilling and job redesign.
[For more details: www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2021/0617-press-release-on-labour-market-report-1q-2021]
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- For advice on further queries, contact MOM through online form here: www.mom.gov.sg/feedback