“UNEVEN” LABOUR MARKET
“This will be reflected in terms of how retrenchments will continue to edge up, reflecting the moderation in external demand, yet growth in certain pockets will continue to create jobs.” The remaining 30,000 unfilled jobs are for non-PMETs, which are “more or less equally distributed between clerical, sales and service workers and production and related workers”.
As the jobs market outlook softens in the months ahead, PMETs will likely continue to bear the brunt, economists said.Referring to the “new economy jobs” in infocomm technology and others, Mr Biswas said: “The jobs being created in these sectors are skilled and specialised, resulting in a skills mismatch for workers leaving other sectors.”