Slightly more workers were laid off last year, said the Manpower Ministry (MOM) in a report released on Thursday. But as there were more employees overall, the incidence of redundancy remained the same as in 2012.

A total of 11,560 workers were laid off in 2013, up from 11,010 in 2012. In both years, this affected 5.8 workers per 1,000 employees.

The Redundancy and Re-entry into Employment 2013 report released on Thursday also found that the top reason for layoffs last year remained the restructuring of business processes to become more efficient.

The Ministry found that professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) were more vulnerable to redundancy than other workers last year, for the second year in a row. They also took longer to find a new job.

This resulted in the overall rate of re-entry into employment dipping last year from 2012. Some 66 per cent of residents laid off in the first three quarters of the year were employed by December, compared with 68 per cent in the previous year.