More laid off last year: MOM

SINGAPORE — More workers were laid off last year due to restructuring, driven by a rise in non-resident workers lay offs as redundancies among resident workers dropped, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) today (April 23).

A total of 12,930 workers were laid off last year, up from 11,560 in 2013, figures from its Redundancy and Re-entry into Employment, 2014 report show. Out of every 1,000 employees, 6.3 workers made redundant, up from 5.8 the year before.

From the 2013 to 2014, the number of non-residents laid off rose from 4,050 to 5,690. Over the same period, the number of residents laid off fell from 7,520 to 7,240.

In the process, the resident’s share of redundancy fell from 65 per cent to 56 per cent, following two years of increase.

At 56 per cent, the resident’s share of redundancy was lower than their two-third share of the workforce last year.

As the labour market remained tight, re-entry into employment among residents who were laid off improved, with half securing employment within a month of their redundancy, said the MOM. The rate of re-entry into employment for residents made redundant, within six months of redundancy, rose for the third successive quarter to 59% in December last year.

According to the Ministry, the increase in redundancy was mainly from services. Layoffs in construction also rose amid a decline in private sector construction output.

Professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) formed a smaller share of layoffs in last year (51 per cent) compared to 56 per cent in 2013. Their likelihood of redundancy remained higher than clerical, sales & service

workers and production & related workers, said the MOM.