Retrenchments double in Q422

There were almost 3,000 people retrenched in the last quarter of 2022.

With many businesses restructuring their organisations, retrenchments in Singapore doubled in Q422 to 2,990. In Q3, there were only 1,300 retrenchments.

Despite the increase, retrenchments in 2022 remained low compared to pre-pandemic years at 6,440. 

The Ministry of Manpower (MoM) added that the percentage of retrenched residents who found employment, six months post-retrenchment, increased to 73.1% in Q4, the highest since Q215 (73.6%).

With many more finding employment in Q4, the total number of employed for 2022 reached 2.9% above its pre-pandemic level, growing by 227,800.

Growth was seen for resident and non-resident employment, increasing by 26,300 and 201,600, respectively.

Resident employment grew in outward-oriented sectors such as Financial Services, Information & Communications and Professional Services, whilst non-residential employment increased primarily due to the hiring of Work Permit Holders (WP+) in sectors such as Construction and Manufacturing.

With an increase in employment, unemployment rate dropped to 2.1% in 2022  from 2.7% in 2021.