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Report: Labour Market 2021
Released on:14/3/2022 10:30 AM

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Report: ​Labour Market Second Quarter 2020
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KEY INSIGHTS

The labour market maintained its recovery momentum in 4Q 2021, alongside a pick-up in business activities as Singapore moved into the “transition phase”.​

  1. Resident employment grew at a faster pace, and the progressive easing of border restrictions led to an increase in non-resident employment for the first time in two years.
  2. Unemployment rates continued to improve, nearing the average quarterly rates in 2018/2019. Structural pressures also eased. The resident long-term unemployment rate declined from its peak in September 2021, but remained above the average levels in 2018/2019.
  3. Fewer employees were placed on short work-week or temporary layoff. Retrenchments declined, and the re-entry rate among retrenched residents rose.
  4. The labour market remained tight, with the number of job vacancies and the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons rising in December 2021. The high number of job openings was driven in part by travel restrictions impacting the inflow of migrant workers in some sectors. There was also robust labour demand from growth sectors, and nascent demand from consumer-facing sectors with the easing of domestic safe management measures.
  5. Wi​th more job openings, the recruitment rate rose to surpass pre-COVID periods, while the resignation rate held steady, just below the pre-pandemic average.
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This edition also carries two box articles - “Youths in the labour market” and “Retrenchment and re-entry into employment in 2021”.​

The first article looks at the employment outcomes of our youths. The second article examines annual retrenchment and re-entry trends across industry and worker types. The study also looks at the likelihood of retrenched residents transiting into an industry different from their last employment, and the time taken to re-enter employment.​

​For more key findings, please refer to the executi​ve su​mmar​y of the report.​


Released on: 14 March ​2022

 

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