Hiring slows in Singapore, with fewer jobs and rising unemployment in Q1

SINGAPORE: According to Ministry of Manpower (MOM) data featured in a Singapore Business Review report, the city-state’s employment growth slipped in the first quarter of 2025, with only 2,300 more people hired. This marks a substantial decrease from the 7,700 new jobs added in the final quarter of 2024 and the 3,200 created in the first quarter of 2024. There is sluggish growth in both resident and non-resident employment.

While the rise in resident employment is sustained in vital areas like social and financial services and healthcare, there was a decline in manufacturing, professional services, and information and communications. Concurrently, the resident unemployment percentage ticked up to 2.9%, whereas the citizen unemployment rate persisted at 3.1%. However, there is nothing to be worried about as MOM assured that these statistics are still within non-recessionary levels.

Retrenchments decline, but hiring optimism fades

In a more encouraging sign, retrenchments fell to 3,300 in Q1 2025, down from 3,680 in the preceding quarter. The rate of cutbacks persisted at 1.3 per 1,000 employees. Most dismissals and downsizings resulted from business restructuring or reshuffling, with only an insignificant number attributed to industry slumps.

So far, employer confidence has diminished. While many businesses in December 2024 were planning to hire and engage people and increase their wages compared to the preceding months, by March 2025, only a few companies were expected to do so in the following quarter. And even though the labour market is still on an upward trend, MOM cautioned that the growing uncertainty in economies worldwide may place additional strain on the Lion City’s job market in the coming months.

In a recent Reddit post, a netizen noted that one reason for problems in Singapore’s job market is that Singaporeans are more status-conscious — they believe that having a degree should lead to an office job — compared to Americans and Europeans, who are more open to full-time iretail work even if they have a college degree.

Another commenter agreed, saying that nobody with a university degree would want to work in a factory or a restaurant.

Adapting to change and being flexible

While Singapore’s job market remained firm, there were signs of caution, with sluggish hiring, growing uncertainty, and diminishing employer confidence. A robust recovery will depend on employers’ adjusting to change and job seekers remaining flexible in their career prospects.