Singapore’s labour market performed better in Q3 2021 compared to Q2 2021, according to labour market estimates from the Ministry of Manpower.

Total employment (excluding Migrant Domestic Workers) declined in Q3 2021 (-3,400), however the decline was lower than in Q2 2021 (-16,300) as resident employment grew more quickly. However, non-resident employment continued to decline at a pace similar to Q2 2021.

Outward-oriented sectors such as Professional Services, Information & Communications, and Financial Services continued to see resident employment expansion. On the other hand, Food & Beverages Services, Retail Trade, and Accommodation trimmed their resident workforce. This reflected ongoing Covid-19 border restrictions and safe management measures imposed in the third quarter. Non-resident employment continued to contract across most sectors in 3Q 2021.

Since the unemployment rates peaked a year ago in September 2020 (3.5% overall), they had continued to ease steadily, though they remained elevated compared to pre-pandemic rates. The unemployment rate stood at 2.6% in September 2021, a 0.1% decline from the previous month.

A decline was also observed for the resident unemployment rate (from 3.6% to 3.5%), and citizen unemployment rate (from 3.8% to 3.7%) in September 2021.

Meanwhile, layoffs are expected to remain low in Q3 2021 (2,000), at less than a quarter of the figure recorded during the peak during the Covid-19 pandemic (9,120).This was a decline from the 2,340 retrenchments seen in the previous quarter.

The Ministry expects the incidence of retrenchment in Q3 2021 (1.1 retrenched per 1,000 employees) to fall from the 1.3 registered in Q2 2021.

“With Singapore’s recent extension of its “Stabilisation Phase” till end-November 2021, we expect the mixed employment trends observed in Q3 2021 to continue into the next quarter,” the Ministry stated. “As these extended Covid-19 measures include group size curbs on dine-in and other social activities, sectors such as Food & Beverages Services and Retail Trade will continue to be impacted. On the other hand, the expansion of the Vaccinated Travel Lane and travel-related activities may give an uplift to industries such as Accommodation and Air Transport Services.”