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By Ian Tan Hanhonn
The labour market has shown broad recovery in 2021, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
MOM said in a report on 14 March 2022 that resident employment grew strongly last year, with unemployment rates continuing to improve to near pre-COVID levels. Retrenchments also saw a significant decline in 2021.
Some sectors continue to face labour shortages, partly due to border restrictions that have constrained the inflow of foreign labour.
However, with the gradual easing of these restrictions, non-resident employment registered an increase in 4Q 2021 – the first time in two years.
The ministry added that downside risks in the global economy, brought about by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, have increased and could hinder the pace of recovery.
“We expect the labour market to continue to improve in 2022. But, of course, events in recent weeks have significantly increased downside risks, and could therefore weigh on the pace of recovery. Locally, we also expect that the outlook will continue to be uneven across sectors,” said Manpower Permanent Secretary Aubeck Kam.
Resident Employment
Total employment, excluding migrant domestic workers, rebounded by 41,400 in 2021. This was after a sharp contraction of 166,600 in 2020.
As of December 2021, there were 2,443,100 residents employed in Singapore, compared to 2,371,800 in the same period the year before.
Although non-resident employment saw a drop of 30,000 in 2021, this fall was offset by a strong rebound in resident employment, which grew by 71,300.
Growth in resident employment was seen across multiple sectors, but more notably in the information & communications, health & social services, professional services, administrative & support services, and financial services sectors.
Non-Resident Employment
For non-residents, the fall in employment was mainly noted amongst Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass holders, which fell by 15,300 and 12,200 places respectively.
Work Permit holders saw a smaller decline of just 2,400 in 2021.
Non-resident employment declined in all sectors, save for Construction. The sector was boosted by an increase in the last quarter of the year, as border restrictions progressively eased.
Unemployment and Retrenchments
The annual, non-seasonally adjusted, unemployment rates in 2021 were significantly lower than that of 2020.
Overall unemployment fell 0.3 per cent, down to 2.7 per cent. Resident unemployment dipped from 4.1 per cent down to 3.5 per cent, and citizen unemployment dropped by 0.5 per cent, down to 3.7 per cent.
In January 2022, unemployment rates declined to around December 2019 levels.