Cautious optimism marks Singapore’s workforce plans for early 2026

Employers in Singapore are entering 2026 with cautious optimism as economic uncertainty continues to shape hiring strategies, according to ManpowerGroup’s latest Employment Outlook Survey. While hiring sentiment remains positive, the survey shows a clear shift towards measured workforce planning as organisations balance growth ambitions with mounting external pressures.

For Q1 2026, Singapore’s Net Employment Outlook (NEO) stands at +15%—five points lower than the previous quarter and 11 points below the same period last year. This marks the weakest outlook since Q1 2022 and reflects relative declines of 25% quarter-on-quarter and 42% year-on-year. Among the 504 employers surveyed, nearly half (46%) plan to hold headcount steady, while 32% expect to hire and 18% anticipate reductions. The remaining 4% remain uncertain, signalling rising caution among employers navigating a softer economic climate.

The finance and insurance sector shows the strongest hiring appetite, with 53% of employers expecting to increase headcount, resulting in a sector outlook of +33%. Yet across the market, employers are recalibrating their hiring decisions. “More employers are focused on maintaining staffing levels or holding off on making staffing decisions while waiting to see how economic conditions evolve, while those hiring are doing so strategically,” said Linda Teo, Country Manager of ManpowerGroup Singapore. She noted that recruitment is increasingly driven by organisational growth needs, diversity targets and the need to strengthen competitive advantage.

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Economic uncertainty remains a key factor shaping workforce decisions. Among organisations maintaining headcount, almost a quarter (23%) are adopting a wait-and-see approach, while organisations reducing employees point primarily to business challenges—30% cite economic pressures as the main driver. Other reasons for reductions include market shifts affecting role demand (31%), restructuring efforts (30%), operational efficiency measures such as role consolidation (30%), and right-sizing to match current workload (26%). Only a minority (21%) attributes workforce reductions to the impact of automation.

For organisations planning to expand, growth strategies are varied. Organisational expansion is the leading driver (39%), followed by diversity efforts (34%), the pursuit of competitive advantage (31%), movement into new business areas (26%), and the need to backfill both recent (26%) and longer-standing vacancies (23%).

Uncertainty is also on the rise, with the proportion of employers unsure about staffing changes increasing to 4%—up from 1% in the previous quarter. Among them, 43% identify economic conditions as the primary reason for hesitation.

Across the broader region, hiring momentum remains uneven. Asia-Pacific and the Middle East lead globally with a collective outlook of +31%, an improvement from both the previous quarter and last year. India continues to dominate the regional rankings with a robust +52% outlook, followed by the UAE at +46%. Conversely, Hong Kong remains the most cautious market with an outlook of +1%, while China recorded the steepest quarterly decline, dropping nine points to +24%.