Singapore Employment Rises By 41,100 In Q1
SINGAPORE – Thanks to a recovery in the hiring of foreign workers, primarily in the construction industry, employment volumes in the city-state continued to increase during the first quarter of the year, reported The Business Times on Thursday morning (28 April, SGT).
Excluding migrant domestic workers, overall employment level in Singapore climbed by 41,100 in Q1 2022 as compared to the preceding quarter, according to a preliminary report published by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Thursday.
The government agency pointed out that “the increase in non-resident employment was significantly greater than that of resident employment,” as border restrictions in Singapore were gradually relaxed. However, the employment volume of overseas workers here is still around 18 percent lower than the figure seen prior to the virus outbreak.
Aside from that, unemployment is now similar to the levels since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Total unemployment inched up from 2.1 percent in February to 2.2 percent in March, while resident unemployment remained unchanged month-on-month at 3.0 percent, while citizen unemployment was also flat at 3.2 percent.
Meanwhile, retrenchments in Singapore dropped from about 1,500 during the last three months of 2021 to a roughly 1,300 in Q1 2022. The Ministry of Manpower described the figure as a record low amidst a tight labour market, with the latest figure representing a retrenchment rate of 0.6 per 1,000 staff.
Looking ahead, the government agency intends to publish more information regarding changes in Singapore’s resident and non-resident employment by June 2022.
