Job vacancies in Singapore hit record high in June

Job vacancies in Singapore rose to a record high of 92,100 in June amid COVID-19 border restrictions and manpower shortages, according to data from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). 

The ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons rose to above one for the first time since March 2019, with 163 jobs for every 100 unemployed persons in June. 

Singapore’s resident unemployment continued to ease in 1H 2021, while resident employment rose across many sectors, such as information and communications, health and social services, professional services, public administration and education and financial and insurance services. 

However, employment recovery was uneven across sectors, declining in industries that were badly hit by tighter restrictions under Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) like food and beverage services and retail trade, tourism-related arts, entertainment and recreation and accommodation.

Non-resident employment fell across all sectors and pass types due to tightened travel restrictions. Overall, total employment also fell, which took into account a sharper decline in non-resident employment and the slower growth of resident employment. 

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In the first half of the year, there were a total of 4,620 retrenchments, or 2.3 retrenchments for every 1,000 employees, which were comparable to the half-yearly levels seen in 2018/2019, MOM said.