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Local employment growth nearly doubles in 2017: MOM report

SINGAPORE — Things are looking up in the job market, as local employment, job vacancies, and citizen median income all grew last year while the unemployment rate and retrenchments fell.

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SINGAPORE — Things are looking up in the job market, as local employment, job vacancies, and citizen median income all grew last year while the unemployment rate and retrenchments fell.

The Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) latest annual labour market report showed that local employment increased by 21,300 in 2017, nearly double the growth in 2016 (11,200). Over the same period, retrenchments fell from 19,170 to 14,720.

From a high of 3.2 per cent in December 2016, the seasonally-adjusted resident unemployment rate dropped to 3 per cent in December last year. The decline was across all education groups, except for degree holders, the MOM said. At the same time, the seasonally-adjusted resident long-term unemployment rate remained at 0.8 per cent last year, unchanged from a year before.

Taking inflation into account, the median monthly income from work, including employer Central Provident Fund contributions, of full-time employed Singaporeans increased by 5.3 per cent over the year to S$4,050 in June last year, compared to 1.3 per cent in June 2016.

The MOM noted that improvements in the economy and the labour market “translated into better employment outcomes for locals” last year. “However, job-skills mismatch continues to be a challenge due to ongoing economic restructuring, the changing nature of jobs and shifts in the profile of the resident labour force,” the ministry said.

For 2018, local employment is expected to continue to grow, although it will be uneven: Hiring is projected to remain cautious in sectors such as construction and marine shipyard. In comparison, job opportunities will be abound in the manufacturing and the services sectors, particularly infocomms and media, finance and insurance, healthcare, professional services, logistics and wholesale trade.

The economy is forecast to grow by 1.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent this year, with growth likely to come in slightly above the middle of the forecast range, barring downside risks.

“Looking ahead, total workforce growth will remain modest due to demographic trends affecting the local workforce and moderated foreign workforce growth,” the MOM said.

Together with Workforce Singapore, MOM said it will press on with efforts under the Adapt and Grow initiative. For professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), outreach efforts will continue to be stepped up as the range of Professional Conversion Programmes get expanded.

Rank-and-file workers will receive enhanced wage support under the Place-and-Train programme, while the enhanced Career Trial — announced during Budget last month — will provide lower- and middle-income workers with more opportunities to try out new careers.

On the 2017 jobs data, the MOM said that local employment growth occurred mainly in the financial and Insurance services, information and communications, professional services, and healthcare sectors, “which have relatively higher shares of PMET occupations”.

Meanwhile, foreign employment, excluding foreign domestic workers (FDWs), fell significantly by 32,000 in 2017, compared to the slight contraction of 2,500 in 2016. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in the number of work permit holders in sectors such as marine shipyard and construction. S pass holders grew by 4,700, while the number of foreign workers on employment pass (EP) declined by 4,500. The fall in the number of EP holders was mainly in professional services and information and communication — sectors which saw growth in local employment, the MOM noted.

Overall, total employment, excluding FDWs, declined by 10,700 last year. Coupled with the growth in local employment, the local share of total employment (excluding FDWs) rose from 66.4 per cent in December 2016 to 67.2 per cent in December last year.

On the faster rate of growth in median income, the MOM noted that it could reflect the “pick-up in economic growth and changes in the composition of the labour force”. From 2012 to last year, real income growth at the 20th percentile of full-time employed Singaporeans (4.3 per cent per annum) was faster than at the median (3.9 per cent per annum). This was supported by initiatives to raise the incomes of low-wage workers in recent years, the ministry added.

Overall labour productivity — as measured by value-added per actual hour worked — rose by 4.5 per cent last year, more than double the growth of 1.8 per cent in 2016 . Similarly, value-added per worker increased by 3.8 per cent last year, compared with 1.4 per cent in 2016.

Productivity gains were seen in the manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, financial and insurance services, business services and construction sectors. At the other end of the spectrum were the information and communications, and accommodation and food services sectors, where productivity fell.

 

 

 

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