Singapore’s labour market continued its growth momentum in the second quarter of 2026. According to advance estimates from the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Labour Market Report for Q2 2026 released on Friday (July 31), total employment increased by 10,700 between April and June, higher than the 9,400 increase in the previous quarter and broadly similar to the 10,400 gain in the same period last year. This marks the 19th consecutive quarter of employment growth since the fourth quarter of 2021.
However, alongside sustained employment expansion, retrenchments also rose. The number of workers laid off increased from 3,830 in the first quarter to 4,500 in the second quarter, pushing the redundancy rate up from 1.6 per 1,000 employees to 1.9. MOM noted that the retrenchments were concentrated in outward‑oriented sectors such as information and communications and manufacturing, driven primarily by business restructuring rather than broad‑based weakness in the labour market. Despite the uptick, the ministry emphasised that current retrenchment levels remain well below typical recessionary peaks — quarterly layoffs ranged between 5,980 and 12,760 during the 2009 global financial crisis, and between 5,640 and 9,120 during the COVID‑19 pandemic.
In terms of employment composition, job growth in the second quarter was largely driven by non‑residents, with increases concentrated in construction and manufacturing. Resident employment continued to expand, though at a slower pace than the previous quarter, with gains mainly in community, social and personal services, and public administration.
On the unemployment front, the overall unemployment rate held steady at 2.0% in June, unchanged from March. The resident unemployment rate stood at 2.9%, while the citizen unemployment rate was 3.0%. The overall unemployment rate has now remained at 2.0% for four consecutive quarters.
Forward‑looking indicators suggest labour demand remains resilient. MOM’s survey showed that the proportion of firms expecting to hire in the next three months rose from 40.6% in May to 43.9% in June. Over the same period, the share of firms planning to raise wages increased from 23.7% to 29.3%, while the proportion intending to cut staff fell from 3.2% to 2.7%.
“Improvements in hiring, wage and retrenchment expectations suggest that labour demand remains resilient, although firms remain cautious given economic uncertainties and ongoing business restructuring in some sectors,” MOM said in the report. However, it also noted that employer expectations remain below pre‑war levels recorded in February this year, implying that hiring and wage increases will stay measured in the near term.
Against a backdrop of global economic headwinds and rapid technological change, MOM emphasised that companies and workers must proactively and continuously upgrade their capabilities. The government will continue to support employers and employees through a range of programmes, including career conversion programmes, the Career Trial for Mid‑Career Switchers initiative, and the SkillsFuture Career Development Programme. The full Q2 Labour Market Report will be released in mid‑September.