SINGAPORE, March 14 — Singapore’s total employment grew by 88,400 in 2023, largely driven by non-resident employment growth, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) report.

The "Labour Market Report Q4 2023” published today said that non-resident employment growth (83,500) was mainly in the construction and manufacturing sectors, while resident employment growth (4,900) was mainly in the financial services and professional services sectors.

It said the resident employment rate remained high, while the resident unemployment rate remained low at 2.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, the total number of retrenchments in 2023 (14,590 or 6.7 per 1,000 employees) was more than double the record low seen in 2022 (6,440 or 3.1 per 1,000 employees) but was similar to pre-pandemic levels (average for 2015-2019: 14,180 or 6.7 per 1,000 employees).

"The top reason for retrenchments remained business reorganisation or restructuring (58.6 per cent) in 2023, due in part to the impact of global economic headwinds on outward-oriented sectors such as wholesale trade, information and communications services, and electronic manufacturing.

"In the fourth quarter of 2023, the majority of retrenched workers (61.5 per cent) were able to re-enter employment six months post-retrenchment, although the re-entry rate has dipped compared to the previous quarter (65.3 per cent),” it said.

MOM, in a separate statement, noted that labour demand cooled over the course of the year, with the rate of employment growth slowing in each successive quarter and the number of job vacancies declining in the first three quarters.

It said the number of vacancies registered a slight increase in December 2023 (79,800) from September 2023 (78,200) after six consecutive quarters of decline.

"With the rise in job vacancies and low unemployment, the labour market remained moderately tight, and the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons rose to 1.74 in December 2023 from September (1.64),” it said.

MOM said it expects labour demand to strengthen in 2024, in line with the forecast of improved economic growth prospects and forward-looking data indicating that more employers plan to hire or increase wages this year. — Bernama