Singapore's retrenchment hits highest since the 2009: MOM report

Singapore's retrenchment has hit its highest since the 2009 financial crisis with lower total employment rate in the third quarter, according to the report by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department of Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Tuesday.

Singapore's retrenchments are at its highest in seven years, with 13,730 job redundancies recorded in the first nine months of 2016, said the Ministry.

MOM said total employment contracted by 2,700 in the third quarter of 2016, following slower growth in the past two quarters. This was the first decline since the first quarter of 2015.

The decline was primarily due to contractions in manufacturing and construction, affecting mainly work-permit holders, said the report.

MOM added that more job seekers were taking a longer time to find work. Singapore's long-term unemployment rate for residents, defined as Singaporeans and Permanent Residents unemployed for 25 weeks, rose to 0.8 percent in September, up from 0.6 percent in September 2015.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the third quarter remained at 2.1 per cent.

Over the same period, unemployment rate for Singaporean citizens and residents were 3 percent and 2.9 percent respectively, down from 3.1 per cent and 3 percent in June.

The report also noted that there were more jobseekers than there were jobs available. There are 91 openings, down from 93 vacancies in the second quarter per 100 job seekers, based on seasonally-adjusted figures.

MOM said the contraction in total employment, heightened redundancy levels and decline in job vacancies to unemployed ratio reflect the current subdued global economic conditions and ongoing economic restructuring.

The ministry will continue to step up tripartite efforts to help for workers affected by the economic situation to seize new job opportunities amid this ongoing economic transition. Enditem