Singapore employment growth more than doubles in third quarter, retrenchments stay stable

SINGAPORE – The number of people with jobs surged in the third quarter of 2025, as employment growth picked up steam and retrenchment rates remained stable. 

Singapore’s total employment in the July to September period grew by 24,800, more than doubling from the increase of 10,400 in the second quarter, according to preliminary labour market data released on Oct 30.

Employment growth was stronger than anticipated, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), supported by a pickup in both resident – Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) – and non-resident employment.

“Employment growth is expected to remain positive but uneven across sectors moving forward, with slightly firmer hiring sentiment. Resident employment remained concentrated in sectors such as health and social services, and financial services,” said MOM.

“Nonetheless, global economic headwinds continued to impact outward-oriented sectors, resulting in subdued resident employment growth in information and communications, and professional services.”

The number of retrenchments in the third quarter stood at 3,500. The retrenchment figures decreased or remained stable across sectors, with corporate restructuring as the primary reason for retrenchments, said MOM.

Unemployment rates across the board remained low in September, with the rate for Singaporeans and PRs standing at 2.8 per cent, and for Singaporeans alone at 3 per cent. The figures fall within the range reflected in the non-recessionary years of 2015 to 2019, said MOM.

The pickup in employment for Singaporeans and PRs was mixed across sectors in the third quarter, with wholesale trade seeing a sharp decline in resident employment.

HSBC’s Asean economist Liu Yun said the wholesale trade sector is “among the most vulnerable sub-sectors” in global trade.

“While today we have seen some de-escalation of trade tensions between the US and China, trade uncertainties persist.”

She added that external-oriented sectors may face increasing challenges in the fourth quarter of 2025, which is largely in line with expectations given the fading impact from front-loading trade.

Non-resident employment also contracted in the information and communications, professional services and wholesale trade sectors. For foreigners, growth came from work permit holders employed in the construction and manufacturing sectors, and remained relatively muted in other sectors.

DBS Bank senior economist Chua Han Teng said improved hiring of manufacturing and construction workers in the third quarter aligned with the resilient factory performance in the same quarter and a domestic construction boom, and despite US tariffs.

“We expect (this) to persist, supported by projects in areas such as mega transport infrastructure and housing.”

On the jobs outlook, MOM said the proportion of firms expecting to hire rose slightly in the third quarter to 44.1 per cent, from 43.7 per cent in the previous quarter, suggesting a modest improvement in hiring sentiment. But expectations varied across sectors, with outward-oriented industries reporting weaker sentiment.

“The proportion of firms planning wage increases (19.3 per cent) continued to edge down across most sectors, while some outward-oriented sectors may see a pickup in retrenchments.

“These trends suggest that while overall employment growth is likely to be sustained, wage growth may moderate amid cost pressures, and resident employment growth may lag that of non-residents, given the already-high resident labour force participation rate.”

Mr Chua added that in the face of possible revenue challenges, employers’ prudence regarding costs will likely manifest through compensation flexibility rather than outright headcount reduction.