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According to MOM data, Singapore remains as one of the top three countries to have a high labour participation rate among other major cities with an aging population.
New data on Singapore’s labour market, released by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department (MRSD) of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), reflects that the country has performed well overall this year with an expanding workforce, low labour underutilisation and a rising nominal and real income. The annual Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2024 report also stated that income inequality gap has also been narrowing and employment rate for persons with disabilities rising. This indicates that the labour market has become a more inclusive space.
However, due to the rising proportion of seniors, labour force participation continues to decline for the third year in a row. This has in turn reduced the country’s old-age support ratio by half from 6.0 in 2014 to 3.5 in 2024 and is projected to further reduce to 2.7 in 2030.
Interestingly, the findings showed that Singapore remains as the top three country to have a high labour force participation rate among other major cities with an aging population. Coming in first was Stockhold, Sweden followed by Zurich, Switzerland in second place.
Other key findings shared include:
1. Job mobility
The proportion of employed residents in the past year decreased by 7.6% and it is likely due to more workers staying in their current jobs as hiring gradually slowed down after the post-pandemic recovery.
It has been noted that a higher percentage of younger workers between ages 15 and 24 years old changed jobs more frequently. This could be attributed to their desire to explore different opportunities or find a better job fit in the early stages of their career. Job change rates remained stable or have seen a decrease for older age groups, indicating that they have been staying in their current positions.
Meanwhile, full-time resident employees who belong to the older age group (25 to 64) and have decided to switch jobs, saw an increase in their income (59.3%).
2. Hours worked
The average weekly hours worked continued to see a decline from 41.9 hours in 2023 to 41.6 hours in 2024. This can be attributed to the long-term trend of the reduction of work hours for full-timers.
3. Income
Real incomes rebounded from 2023 as inflations eased and nominal income growth strengthened. The nominal median (P50) gross monthly income of full-timers grew from S$5,197 to S$5,500 within a year, representing a 5.8% growth. This is higher than the 2.5% growth that was seen in the previous year.
Income growth at the 20th percentile (P20) grew faster than the median as initiatives that aim to uplift lower-wage workers took effect. The ratio of P20 to P50 improved from 0.54 to 0.55 and P20 is expected to continue increasing in the coming years as a raise in nominal wage requirements under the Progressive Wage Model are gradually being implemented.
4. Unemployment
The unemployment rate remained low overall among professionals, managers, executives, and technicians (PMETs) and non-PMETs with a rate of 2.7% and 3.4% respectively. Looking at long-term unemployment, the rate falls lower at 0.7% and 0.5% respectively.
Across all industries, unemployment rates either declined or remained similar over the year except for outward-oriented industries such as information & communications and financial & insurance services which saw an increase in their unemployment rates. This could be due to the rise in retrenchments from business restructuring as the global economy shifts, impacting firms in those sectors.
5. Persons outside the labour force
As Singapore's population ages, more residents can be seen outside the labour force with an increase from 1.12mn to 1.14mn in the past year. This increase is primarily due to the increasing number of retirees. Among reasons cited include retirement as the main reason for leaving the work force, noting an increase from 25.2% to 28.7%. This figure is expected to increase as baby boomers retire.
For more details and other findings, visit here.
READ MORE: A snapshot of Singapore's labour market performance in Q3 2024
Lead image/ MOM's Labour Force In Singapore Advance Release 2024
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