Resident employment contracted by 1,200 in the second quarter of 2023 despite “robust increases” in sectors such as community, social and personal services and financial and insurance services.
Many people are hired for temporary work related to these events, and that tapers off in the first half of the next year, he said.MOM said it does not expect the contraction in resident employment to persist. Hiring will be boosted by the recovery in tourism and the year-end celebrations, though it may not be as strong as in 2022, MOM said.
The unemployment rate remained low in the second quarter, but is likely to climb slightly in the coming months, MOM said. Job vacancies hit a record of 126,000 in March 2022. “ basically everybody was saying that the market was overheating, overly tight. Businesses were saying that they don’t have enough, there was a worry about a shortage of manpower,” said MOM’s Mr Ang.
Retrenchments declined in the second quarter after rising for three quarters, with reorganisation or restructuring being the main reason cited.