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Singapore’s resident employment levels back at pre-Covid levels: MOM
SINGAPORE – Singapore’s resident employment continued to rise in the fourth quarter of last year, leading to an overall rebound to pre-Covid levels by end-2020, latest manpower statistics show.
Resident employment grew by 28,900 in the fourth quarter, lower than the 43,200 in the previous quarter but it was the second consecutive quarter to register an increase.
Total employment – the number of workers in jobs – however contracted in the same period by 13,500 workers, mainly due to a decline in non-resident employment of 42,400, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
On Thursday (Jan 28), MOM released its preliminary estimates for the labour market for the fourth quarter of 2020.
Estimates show that the employment decline occurred mostly in the manufacturing and construction sectors due to reductions in foreigners holding work permits, while employment grew in the services sector.
For the whole year, resident employment grew by 9,300, while non-resident employment fell by 181,500, or 16 per cent. This resulted in total employment contracting by 172,200 last year, said MOM.
The total employment contraction in 2020 was also the most severe in two decades.
The unemployment situation also continued to ease, with rates declining for the second consecutive month in December compared with the previous month.
Last year, the unemployment rate for the resident workforce was 4.1 per cent and 3 per cent for the overall workforce, compared with 3.1 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively in 2019.
The overall unemployment rate for the year was higher than 2019 but remained below past recessionary peaks.
Speaking to the media after a visit to interior design company WEDA StudioInc on Thursday, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said: “Considering how disruptive the Covid-19 pandemic was at all levels and across all sectors of the economy, the fact that resident employment actually managed some modest growth is something that we are very encouraged about.”
She said the growth in resident employment is testament to the resilience of workers, as well as employers’ willingness to retain locals with the support of Government schemes such as the Jobs Support Scheme and SGUnited jobs and traineeships.
“I would also say that the schemes that we put in place, played a part… they worked better than I dared to hope. In that regard, I think the collective efforts of all the stakeholders made a difference,” said Mrs Teo.
She also acknowledged that “some of the employment opportunities that people got themselves into last year were not exactly what they had set out to find when they embarked on the job search”.
But Singaporeans were willing to try different jobs and that led to the country being able to maintain a “high degree of resident employment” by end-2020, said the minister.
Slowdown in retrenchments
The number of retrenchments declined for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 6,100, after increasing for five consecutive quarters.
For the whole year of 2020, though, retrenchments rose sharply to 26,570 – the highest in two decades since the 2001 recession due to the dot.com bust.
Last year’s retrenchment figures were also higher than the peak during the 2009 global financial crisis, which saw 23,430 retrenchments.
The 2020 retrenchments occurred mainly in the arts, entertainment and recreation, wholesale trade and air transport services sectors.
However, when taking into the account the bigger size of the current workforce, the incidence of retrenchment for 2020 was lower than past recessions, at 13 retrenched per 1,000 employees, MOM said.
During the Sars outbreak in 2003, this was about 16 retrenched per 1,000 employees, and during the 2009 global financial crisis, this was about 14 retrenched per 1,000 employees.
MOM said it remains to be seen if the reduction in overall retrenchments in the fourth quarter of 2020 will continue into this year.
“For example, retrenchments are expected to rise in air transport services due to the on-going travel restrictions, while business transformation in other sectors may result in further displacements,” said the ministry.
Mrs Teo also cautioned that labour market recovery this year will be uneven, and “even the whole momentum potentially could stall”.
“If that were to happen, certainly we would expect that retrenchments will remain elevated,” she said, adding that the Government will be announcing new measures to support employers and workers in the coming Budget.
Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jobs/resident-employment-rebounds-to-pre-covid-levels-by-end-2020-mom-statistics