SINGAPORE — Among Singapore residents who were retrenched in the first quarter of the year, 39 per cent had been re-employed by June, a survey by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has found. 

MOM said on Monday (Sept 7) that the survey, which polled 2,160 residents who had been retrenched sometime in the first three months of the year, found that hiring slowed in the second quarter but did not come to a standstill, as a “good number” of retrenched workers re-entered employment. 

In the first two quarters of this year, there had been almost 10,000 retrenchments, according to advance estimates by MOM released in July.

The survey also found that of the retrenched workers who were re-employed, seven in 10 managed to do so within a month after they lost their jobs. 

These figures were revealed in MOM’s latest jobs situation report, which aims to give the public regular updates on the job market during the pandemic.

MOM said a similar study had been carried out in the first quarter of 2018, which showed that 47 per cent of those retrenched had re-entered employment by June that year, a difference of 8 percentage points from this year’s study. 

Nevertheless, the ministry said of the latest survey findings: “This suggests that job prospects for retrenched workers held up, despite their job search taking place in a much weaker employment market and within the circuit breaker period, during which many activities were disrupted."

The ministry added that it will continue to monitor the employment outcomes of retrenched workers. 

Among other things, the survey found that PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) and mid-career workers in their 30s and 40s were more likely to have found jobs.

About half (53 per cent) of those retrenched and then re-employed possessed transferable skills that enabled them to switch to a different industry. The majority, or about 60 per cent, of those who found a job also did not have to take a sizeable pay cut.

“On the whole, these findings suggest that hiring slowed in (the second quarter) but did not come to a standstill,” said MOM. 

“Despite the weakness in the employment market, the majority who found jobs did so relatively quickly with modest impact to salary.”