New report shows total employment expanding, but retrenchments also rising in Q2
Singapore's total employment expanded for the 19th consecutive quarter in the wake of global uncertainty, according to new government data, which expects labour demand to remain resilient in the coming months.
The Ministry of Manpower's advance release of the Labour Market report showed total employment growing by 10,700 in the second quarter of 2026.
This is up from the 9,400 expansion recorded in the first quarter, and remains close to the 10,400 recorded growth in the same period last year.
"This marked the 19th consecutive quarter of growth since 4Q 2021," MOM said in a media release.
Non-resident employment growth drove the total employment expansion in the second quarter, with the strongest contributors being the Construction and Manufacturing sectors.
Resident employment expanded at a slower pace compared to the previous quarter, with growth concentrated in essential and public services.
Meanwhile, unemployment remained "low and stable" in June 2026, with overall unemployment at two per cent.
Resident unemployment is at 2.9%, while citizen unemployment reached 3.0%, according to the report.
The growth in total employment comes in the wake of various global events, such as the conflict in the Middle East and the recent tariffs from the United States, facing businesses.
"Advance data indicate that Singapore's labour market continued to expand in 2Q 2026 despite continued global uncertainty," MOM said.
Labour demand remains resilient
And in the coming months, labour demand is expected to remain "resilient," according to MOM, as hiring sentiment over the next three months picked up to 43.9% in June 2026.
Similarly, the share of employers expecting to raise wages also went up to 29.3% in the next three months, higher than the 23.7% recorded in May.
"Although the uptick in hiring and wage sentiment was broad-based across sectors, these indicators remained below their pre-crisis levels in February," the report read.
"This suggests that firms will likely continue to adopt some caution with their hiring and wage decisions in the near term."
Retrenchments go up
Meanwhile, the report found that the number of retrenchments went up in the second quarter to 4,500 in 2Q 2026, bringing the incidence of retrenchment to 1.9 per 1,000 employees.
The increase comes after several quarters of stable retrenchment figures, according to MOM, but it noted that they remained well below levels typically observed during periods of downturn.
"The increase was concentrated in selected outward-oriented sectors such as Information & Communications and Manufacturing, with the majority of retrenchments driven by business reorganisation or restructuring," it said.
Despite the growth, the report stated that retrenchment plans among Singaporean employers went down.
The share of employers expecting to retrench employees fell to 2.7% in June, down from the 3.2% recorded in May.
"As a whole, the improvement in hiring, wage, and retrenchment expectations points to resilient labour demand, even as firms remain measured in their manpower planning and restructuring continues in selected sectors amid the uncertain economic situation," the report read.
