Resident employment levels in September 2020 (at 2.34 million) have returned to near pre-Covid-19 levels, announced the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in its Labour Market Report for 3Q2020 on Dec 17.
The industries which registered the largest increase in total employment during the quarter were in public administration & education, food & beverage services, health & social services and information & communications. MOM says resident employment grew strongly within these industries, while non-resident employment declined.
The rebound in resident employment was due to strong support measures for local employment, including the Jobs Support Scheme and programmes under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, says the ministry.
In contrast, the number of retrenchments rose to 9,120 in 3Q2020 compared to the 8,130 in 2Q2020, mainly in the arts, entertainment & recreation, as well as air transport-related industries.
Contraction in non-resident employment continued at -72,300 in 3Q2020, registering a faster pace compared to the previous two quarters.
To this end, non-residents made up almost nine in 10 – or 139,100 – of the contraction in total employment between January to September due to a strong rebound in resident employment during the third quarter.
The figure does not include foreign domestic workers.
SEE: Unemployment and retrenchment levels to ease as economy shows signs of picking up
A gradual pick up in labour market activity
In the same report, MOM announced that close to 60,000 Singaporeans have been placed into jobs and skills opportunities as at end October, with more than 120,000 openings still available.
In 3Q2020, 34,240 employees were placed on shorter work weeks or temporary layoffs compared to 81,720 in 2Q2020.
The number of average paid hours rose to 43.8 hours in September 2020, compared to 43.4 hours in June 2020, reflecting higher overtime hours.
The number of job vacancies also rose to 49,600 in September, which resulted in the improvement in the country’s job vacancy to unemployed ratio to 0.60 from 0.57 over the quarter.
