(July 31): Singapore’s retrenchments last quarter climbed to the highest since the pandemic, as some overseas-facing industries restructured.
 
Layoffs hit 4,500 in April-June, more than 17% from the previous quarter, according to Ministry of Manpower’s advance data released on Friday. That’s the most since the fourth quarter of 2020, when 5,640 workers were retrenched. 

“The increase was concentrated in some outward-oriented sectors, driven primarily by business restructuring,” the ministry noted in a statement.

Still, the country’s broader labour market and economy continued to show resilience. Overall employment grew by 10,700 and the unemployment rate held at 2%. The share of firms expecting to hire over the next three months rose to 43.9%, from 40.6% in May, the ministry’s statement. said. Final second-quarter (2Q) labour figures will be released in September. 

Companies in the services industry expect business conditions to be more favourable in the second half of the year, the Department of Statistics Singapore said on Friday. 

In the manufacturing sector, precision engineering firms were the most upbeat amid strong global AI-related investment, Singapore Economic Development Board said in a separate statement. Firms in the petrochemicals and petroleum segments were the most pessimistic due to supply disruptions from the Middle East.

Singapore’s economy grew 5.7% in 2Q, running ahead of the government’s full-year forecast. AMRO, a regional economic surveillance organisation, said on Friday it forecasts the city-state will grow 4.8% this year, slowing from 5% in 2025. 

More than half of Singapore companies polled by an industry group in April said they were concerned about labour costs, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore warned that labour demand could soften this year due to increasing uncertainties.

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