Nearly 3 in 5 Singapore employers plan to freeze headcount in 2026: SNEF survey
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More employers here are planning for hiring freezes and wage moderation in 2026, according to a new SNEF survey.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE – More bosses here are planning for hiring freezes and wage moderation in 2026, according to a new survey commissioned by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).
It found that 72 per cent of the 238 employers polled said they faced uncertain prospects in 2025, up from 58 per cent in 2024.
In 2025, nearly three in five employers (58 per cent) are planning to freeze headcount next year, up from 50 per cent in 2024. A third of respondents are planning to increase hiring.
About 8 per cent of employers are planning to reduce their headcount, a similar figure to 2024’s 9 per cent.
Larger companies – those with more than 200 employees – are more likely to reduce their headcount. Meanwhile, smaller companies with 50 or fewer employees are more likely to freeze their headcount.
Similar to 2024, most employers (79 per cent) cited rising manpower costs as a key challenge. This was followed by challenges in attracting and retaining professionals, managers, engineers and technicians, and a shortage of high-skilled talent.
To address these challenges, 62 per cent of the employers are planning to provide a competitive employee salary and benefits package. This figure fell from 70 per cent in 2024. A smaller proportion of employers (30 per cent) are willing to provide more flexible working arrangements, compared with 49 per cent in 2024.
More than 120,000 workers across 19 industries, comprising small, medium and large companies in the mix, responded to the survey. The survey was conducted from June 25 to Aug 15 in 2025, and its findings were released on Dec 2.
Despite the more cautious outlook, a large proportion of bosses who employ lower-wage workers (96 per cent) still plan to provide them with built-in wage increases in 2026. This refers to employees earning a gross monthly wage of up to $2,700, which corresponds to the 20th percentile of gross monthly wages in 2024.
“It is heartening to see that many employers continue to invest in their people, especially lower-wage workers, as such investments ultimately help them build a stronger, more resilient, and future-ready workforce that can help businesses capture new opportunities in uncertain times,” said Mr Hao Shuo, chief executive of SNEF.
Employers that expected not to do well in 2025 are planning more modest increases than those that expected to do well. Close to 40 per cent of employers plan to give higher increments to lower-wage workers than to other employees, while 33 per cent are planning similar increments for all employees.
Almost half of employers polled (48 per cent) plan to implement wage moderation or freeze salaries in FY2025/2026, up from 38 per cent in the last financial year.
Bosses also plan to give a lower wage increment compared with the previous year, the data showed. “This indicates more caution in wage outlook among employers, particularly among small and medium-sized employers,” said SNEF.
