In total, there were 6,440 retrenchments in 2022, the lowest since records began in 1998. There were 10,690 layoffs in 2019 before the pandemic began.
Resident unemployment and long-term unemployment rates in December 2022 remained low, said MOM.
“Right now, we are back into a steady state and we should expect retrenchments to hover around these levels,” said Mr Ang Boon Heng, director of MOM’s manpower research and statistics department.
The ministry said that the percentage of residents who found employment within six months of being retrenched was 73.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022, the highest since the second quarter of 2015.
The majority of retrenched residents found employment in a different industry, Mr Ang told reporters.
“It encourages us because it shows the transferability of the skills of the retrenched residents to find new jobs in new sectors,” he said.
BIGGEST INCREASE IN TOTAL EMPLOYMENT
Total employment, excluding migrant domestic workers, grew by 227,800, reaching 2.9 per cent above pre-COVID levels in 2019.
This is the biggest increase on record, surpassing the previous high in 2007 when total employment grew by 223,500.
Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said growth prospects in sustainability and the green economy contributed to the “very good and rosy” employment data.
Resident employment continued to grow, particularly in outward-oriented sectors such as financial services, information and communications, and professional services, MOM said.
Resident employment – Singaporeans and permanent residents – increased by 26,300 last year.
