S’pore layoffs rise 17.5% from last quarter to highest since 2020, but more firms are still looking ...

Layoffs in Singapore rose to their highest level since 2020 in the second quarter of 2026, even as the labour market continued to grow amid ongoing global uncertainty. According to advance labour market data released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Friday (31 July), there were 4,500 retrenchments between April and June, up from 3,830 in the previous quarter. This is a 17.5% increase. The 17.5% increase marked the highest quarterly retrenchment figure since the last quarter of 2020. However, MOM noted it remained well below levels seen during the Covid-19 pandemic. Business restructuring drove increase in layoffs MOM said the rise in retrenchments was concentrated in outward-oriented sectors, particularly information and communications and manufacturing. The ministry added that the layoffs were driven mainly by business restructuring, rather than a broad-based economic downturn. “Although retrenchments increased, they were driven primarily by business restructuring in selected outward-oriented sectors,” MOM said in the press release. “Labour demand remains resilient, and surveys indicate an uplift in employers’ hiring sentiments.” Overall, the incidence of retrenchment rose from 1.6 to 1.9 per 1,000 employees. Employment continues to grow, while unemployment is ‘low and stable’ Despite the increase in layoffs, Singapore’s labour market continued to expand. Total employment grew by 10,700 in the second quarter, up from 9,400 in the first quarter and marking the 19th consecutive quarter of employment growth since the end of 2021. Resident employment continued to increase, although at a slower pace, with most gains coming from essential and public services. Meanwhile, growth in non-resident employment was mainly driven by the construction and manufacturing sectors. Unemployment rates “remained low and stable”, with the overall unemployment rate holding at 2%, unchanged from March. More employers expect to hire and raise wages Looking ahead, MOM said employers appear to remain optimistic despite economic uncertainty. The proportion of firms expecting to hire over the next three months rose from 40.6% in May to 43.9% in June. At the same time, the share of firms planning to raise wages increased from 23.7% to 29.3%, while the proportion expecting to retrench staff fell from 3.2% to 2.7%. “The improvement in hiring, wage, and retrenchment expectations suggests that labour demand is resilient, even as firms remain cautious given economic uncertainties and continued business restructuring in some sectors,” MOM said. The ministry added that a full labour market report, including sector-by-sector employment data and job vacancy figures, will be released in mid-Sept 2026.