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5 things to know about Singapore’s labour market in Q1 2017

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) released its latest labour market report for the first quarter of 2017, summarising the various facets of the local workforce. In the press release, MOM said: “The labour market situation remained mixed, with the overall and resident unemployment rate unchanged from the previous quarter, and redundancies declining slightly compared to a year ago.”

With that in mind, here’s a look at the five things, most relevant to HR challenges, that you need to know about the labour market report:

#1 Outlook of the employment situation

  • Total employment declined by 6,800 in Q1 2017, after modest growth of 2,300 in the previous quarter. This is due to the reduction in the foreign workforce as there were fewer Work Permit Holders in the manufacturing and construction industries.
  • On the other hand, employment continued to grow in the following sectors - community, social and personal services, and financial and insurance services.
  • This combination of factors led to an the increase in long term unemployment rate from 0.7% in March 2016 to 0.8% in March 2017.MOM - no of hours

    #5 Overall labour turnover

    After an uptick in the fourth quarter of 2016, the seasonally adjusted recruitment rate declined to 2.1% in the first quarter of 2017 from 2.2%. Meanwhile, the resignation rate held steady at 1.8%, since the beginning of 2016.

    ALSO READ: 3 things HR directors should know about Singapore May Day Rally 2017

    Lead photo/ MOM Labour Market Report Images/ MOM Labour Market Report

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