Singapore's unemployment rate up to 2.1% in 1Q12

The talent market remains tight with companies needing to remain focused on acquiring skills.

In a report, Randstad Regional Director, Singapore & Malaysia, Ms Karin Clarke said: "“Despite the ongoing economic uncertainty in the Eurozone and the United States, Singapore’s employment conditions remain strong. In the first quarter of 2012, the overall unemployment rate increased by a small margin from 2.0% in December 2011 to 2.1% in March 2012."

“While the latest MOM statistics show some very minor tightening in the local labour market, Asia continues to show strong economic growth rates in comparison to the rest of the world. For example, unemployment in Spain is now topping 24.5%.

“The Singapore talent market remains tight. This means companies need to remain focused on acquiring the skills needed to drive workforce productivity and business growth. Randstad continues to see significant demand for skilled talent across the board, and in particular high demand in the technology, FMCG, and mining & commodities sectors. In the banking & finance sector, we are seeing some signs of recovery, particularly around risk & compliance and front office roles in the corporate, retail and private banking segments.” said Ms Clarke.

“Redundancy has eased for the first quarter of 2012. This shows many employers took a somewhat cautionary position in Q4 2011 in light of global uncertainty. There are now green shoots of optimism that the Singapore economy is well-positioned to weather the global slow-down. Optimism is also being driven by increased levels of overseas investment in Singapore as multinationals look to increase investment in Singapore as a regional hub in the Asia growth region. Australian mining & commodities firms are a good example of this.

“However, according to MOM’s market report released on 26 April, the number of the professionals, managers, executives & technicians (PMET) displaced increased by 35% from 2010 to 2011. Restructuring of business processes for greater efficiency (34%) and high labour cost (30%) were the top two reasons for redundancy in 2011.

“In times of uncertainty, businesses look to focus on their core, re-engineer business models and innovate to improve the customer experience. For this reason, there is a move toward higher-value added skilled manpower within the PMETs job market. This means workers must focus on upskilling and enhancing their personal career development, while employers must also contribute to the continuous development of their employees if they wish to retain and groom the top talent needed to boost company performance,” Ms Clarke said.