Hiring has been ‘frozen to begin with,’ jobseekers say as more firms plan 2026 hiring freeze

SINGAPORE: Some jobseekers online said hiring had been “frozen to begin with” after the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) said on Tuesday (Dec 2) that nearly three in five employers in Singapore plan to freeze hiring next year due to uncertain business prospects, as reported by Channel News Asia (CNA).

The survey, conducted from Jun 25 to Aug 15, which gathered responses from about 240 employers hiring over 120,000 workers, found that 72% of employers faced uncertain business prospects in 2025, compared to just 58% last year. As a result, 58% of companies plan to keep their headcount in 2026, up from just 50% last year, with smaller firms (63%) more likely to do so.

According to SNEF, the share of employers planning to reduce staff remained largely unchanged from last year, although larger companies are more likely to cut their workforce.

Jobseekers weighed in online amid employers’ hiring plans for next year. One commenter online pleaded, “Can any of the current job postings please hire me first before they freeze it?” Another chimed in, adding, “We’re going into deep freeze now,” noting Singapore’s job hiring was already frozen to begin with.

Another netizen said hiring freezes had been happening since late 2023 and were just “getting much worse, hence the spotlight.” He shared that after being retrenched last year, he reached out to a company he had worked with in 2022, only to be told that a hiring freeze was in place. “That position is still empty even up till now,” he said.

The survey also showed that nearly half of employers (48%) said they plan to moderate or freeze wages in the 2025/2026 financial year, marking a 10-percentage-point increase from last year.

SNEF said that this indicates a more cautious wage outlook among employers, particularly among small and medium-sized firms.

Just like last year, employers cited rising manpower costs as their biggest challenge for the next 12 months. Other challenges mentioned were attracting and retaining professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), as well as a shortage of highly skilled local talent. /TISG

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