Total employment in Singapore, excluding foreign domestic workers, contracted by 121,800 in the second quarter of 2020, the Ministry of Manpower stated in a press release on July 29.

This is more than 400 per cent the figure in the first quarter of 2020, which brings the total employment decline, since the beginning of the year, to 147,500.

Rise in retrenchment and employment contraction all three broad sectors

The sharper contraction in employment was experienced across all three broad sectors of manufacturing, services and construction.

Within services, the contraction was sharpest in food and beverage services, retail trade, arts, entertainment and recreation and education.

Meanwhile, construction also saw a steep decline in employment while Employment contraction in manufacturing was more modest in comparison.

All three sectors also saw a rise in retrenchments over the quarter.

MOM highlighted that retrenchments rose significantly in wholesale trade and transport equipment, reflecting a reduced demand in retail and air travel respectively.

Number of unemployed Singaporeans stands at 79,600 as of June 2020

As of June 2020, the number of unemployed Singapore citizens stands at 79,600, with permanent residents (PRs) bringing the total number of unemployed residents up to 90,500.

In addition, the number of retrenchments doubled in the second quarter, with 6,700 retrenchments compared to 3,220 retrenchments in the first quarter.

As such, retrenchments have now surpassed the peak of SARS which 5,510 retrenchments in the second quarter of 2003, but remain below the peak of the Global Financial Crisis which saw 12,760 retrenchments in the first quarter of 2009.

Unemployment rates have also risen

Unemployment rates also rose in June, with the breakdown as follows:

• From 2.4 per cent in March 2020 to 2.9 per cent in June 2020 overall,
• From 3.3 per cent to 3.9 cent for residents (PRs and Singapore Citizens) in the same period, and
• From 3.5 per cent to 4.0 per cent, for Singapore citizens.

These rates however, are lower than the peaks of the Global Financial Crisis and SARS, the press release further stated.

External economic environment will remain weak

With regard to the future, MOM stated that the external economic environment is expected to remain weak with several countries experiencing a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

The ministry added that job support measures will therefore be ramped up by:

• Coordinating job support efforts through the National Jobs Council,
• Bringing forward government hiring,
• Providing more resources for the implementation of career conversion programmes, and
• Having Workforce Singapore (WSG) progressively establish SGUnited Jobs and Skills satellite career centres in all Housing Board towns.

Additionally, traineeship positions will also be provided to both recent graduates and mid-career individuals.

MOM added that this was due to the strong response from companies to provide traineeship positions for fresh graduates under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme.

As such, the offer of these positions was also extended to mid-career individuals as attachments under the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme, with applications opening from August 1, for an initial 13,000 available attachments.

Top photo by Studio Sarah Lou via Flickr