Slower job hunts after layoffs: Singapore residents' re-employment within 6 months falls to 54.9%

Retrenchments are rising while total employment has grown for a 19th consecutive quarter. Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) published its full second-quarter 2026 labour market report on 21 September 2026.

According to the report, Singapore recorded 4,620 retrenchments in the second quarter of 2026, or 2.0 per 1,000 employees, compared with 3,830 (1.6 per 1,000) in the first quarter. Vulcan Post and The Star both reported that this is the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2020. That historical comparison comes from media reports, and we could not verify it directly on MOM's press release page.

In the same quarter, total employment rose by 11,400. As of June 2026, the overall unemployment rate was 1.9%. Retrenchments rose but overall employment did not shrink, so what matters is who was let go and who was hired.

Why there are two sets of figures for the same quarter

If you saw different numbers in July and September, the reason is that they come from different releases. On 31 July 2026, MOM first published advance figures: preliminary retrenchments of 4,500, a rate rising from 1.6 per 1,000 employees in the first quarter to 1.9, total employment growth of 10,700, and a June unemployment rate of 2.0%.

The full report of 21 September revised all three figures: retrenchments were raised to 4,620, employment growth was raised to 11,400, and the unemployment rate was lowered to 1.9%. This article uses the full report of 21 September.

Retrenchments concentrated in manufacturing, infocomm and financial services

MOM said the increase in retrenchments stemmed from business restructuring and reorganisation in manufacturing, information and communications, and financial services. The sector breakdown reported by the human resources outlet HRD shows 870 retrenchments in manufacturing, 720 in information and communications, and 710 in financial services in the second quarter. Together that is 2,300, about half of the total, a figure we calculated by adding HRD's sector numbers.

The age pattern is also uneven. HRD reported that among residents, people in their 50s had the highest retrenchment rate at 3.6 per 1,000, followed by those in their 40s at 3.0 per 1,000.

New jobs were mostly filled by non-residents

Total employment rose by 11,400, but resident employment rose by only 2,200, slower than 5,400 in the first quarter. Non-resident employment rose by 9,200, mainly Work Permit holders in construction and manufacturing. Dividing the two figures, non-residents account for roughly 80% of the second-quarter increase. This is our own calculation from MOM's figures, not a statement by MOM.

Resident job gains came mainly from inward-oriented sectors, namely transportation and storage, public administration and education, and health and social services, and also from professional services, financial services, and information and communications. In other words, resident employment also grew in financial services and infocomm even as those sectors had retrenchments.

Four indicators beyond retrenchments

Retrenchment numbers alone can suggest a weakening economy. The four data points below give a fuller picture of the second quarter.

• Unemployment: as of June 2026, the overall rate was 1.9%, the resident rate 2.9% and the citizen rate 3.0%.
• Long-term unemployment: the resident long-term unemployment rate edged up from 0.9% in March to 1.0% in June, a limited rise.
• Job vacancies: vacancies fell from 73,300 in March to 68,600 in June, but vacancies per unemployed person edged up from 1.46 to 1.48, so vacancies still outnumber jobseekers.
• Employer intentions: Vulcan Post reported that in MOM's July survey 48.7% of firms planned to hire in the next three months and 27.9% planned to raise wages, and MOM described the outlook as positive but cautious.

Our analysis: second-quarter retrenchments were concentrated in a few sectors, total employment still rose, and the unemployment rate stood at 1.9%. However, resident employment growth slowed, new jobs were mostly filled by non-residents, and the impact of the adjustment is not evenly spread but falls on particular sectors and age groups.

Finding work again has become harder

The more telling figure is not the number of retrenchments but what happens afterwards. MOM data show that the share of retrenched residents re-employed within six months fell from 60.7% in the first quarter to 54.9% in the second. Within 12 months, the share edged up from 69.4% to 69.8%.

The picture is similar for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs). HRD reported that 54.1% of this group were re-employed within six months, against 59.6% in the first quarter. MOM also said the fall in vacancies came mainly from PMET positions in financial services and in information and communications, which are also sectors where retrenchments were concentrated.

The mix of vacancies has changed too. Entry-level PMET vacancies numbered 31,700 in June, or 45.3% of all vacancies, against 32,800, or 43.6%, in March. The number dipped slightly while the share rose.

How to read figures like these

The next time you see a retrenchment headline, ask three questions: which sectors the retrenchments are concentrated in, whether overall employment is rising or falling, and how long retrenched workers take to find their next job. Singapore's second-quarter data show retrenchments concentrated in three sectors, total employment still rising, and a lower share of retrenched residents re-employed within six months. In our view, for people working in those sectors, the time it takes to move to a new job is worth watching.

Sources

• Ministry of Manpower Singapore, Labour Market Report - Second Quarter 2026, 2026-09-21, https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2026/0921-labour-market-report---second-quarter-2026
• Ministry of Manpower Singapore, Labour Market Advance Release 2Q 2026, 2026-07-31, https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2026/0731-labour-market-advance-release-2q-2026
• HRD Asia (hcamag), Singapore's retrenchments went up as re-entry takes longer, 2026-09-22, https://www.hcamag.com/asia/specialisation/recruitment/singapores-retrenchments-went-up-as-re-entry-takes-longer/590573
• The Star, Retrenchments rise to highest level since 2020 despite continued job growth in Q2, 2026-07-31, https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2026/07/31/retrenchments-rise-to-highest-level-since-2020-despite-continued-job-growth-in-q2
• Vulcan Post, Singapore Q2 2026 retrenchments highest since 2020, 2026-09-21, https://vulcanpost.com/913317/singapore-q2-2026-retrenchments-highest-since-2020/

Prices and details correct as of October 2026

Compiled by the F50 Editorial Team from public sources, for general reference only and not professional advice. Details are correct as of the publication date and may change.