Although employers are not retrenching existing workers, they are exercising greater caution in hiring.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) shared this on 12 September, in its statement on the labour market developments for the first half of 2019.
Excluding foreign domestic workers, total employment grew by 16,900 in the first six months of 2019, which was higher than the same period last year at 6,900.
Meanwhile, local employment grew by 5,300 in the first half of 2019. This was slower than the year before, which was at 6,500.
Sectors such as community, social and personal services, professional services, financial and insurance services and infocomm continued to grow.
The number of employees retrenched in the first six months of 2019 was comparable to the same time last year – 5,550 and 5,350 respectively. Employers cited restructuring and reorganisation as the main reasons for retrenchments.
About 63 per cent of workers had found employment within the first six months of being retrenched. This percentage is the same as in the first half of 2018.
The resident unemployment rate rose from 3 per cent in March 2019 to 3.1 per cent in June 2019, while the number of job vacancies declined from 57,100 in March 2019 to 47,700 in June 2019.
This meant that the ratio of job vacancies to the number of unemployed persons had dipped to 0.94 in June 2019.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has cut the growth forecast for Singapore’s GDP in the second quarter this year. It now stands at 0 per cent to 1 per cent. Previously, the growth forecast was set at 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
In its statement, MOM said: “MOM and Workforce Singapore (WSG), together with tripartite partners are closely monitoring the labour market situation, and stand ready to step up support for Singaporeans under the Adapt and Grow initiative.
“In particular, the Taskforce for Responsible Retrenchment and Employment Facilitation is proactively reaching out to retrenched workers to provide them with timely employment support, including job matching.”
The Ministry also urged employers to tap on the Adapt and Grow programmes to access a wider pool of job seekers.
Responding to the developments, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay said: “As the labour market weakens, it will be crucial for companies and employers to partner the Labour Movement and our affiliated unions to upskill, reskill and second-skill workers so that they stay engaged, empowered, employed and employable. We will also closely watch both lag and lead indicators from ground observations across our unionised companies and the Labour Movement network.”
He also urged workers to tap on the various SkillsFuture initiatives and the Union Training Assistance Programme to keep their skills up-to-date and relevant.
“Just as how we’ve managed to overcome the series of slowdowns and downturns in the past two decades, the Labour Movement stands ready to work closely with our tripartite partners to help our workers tackle tough times,” added Mr Tay.
