Singapore retrenchments rise sharply in Q2 amid falling vacancies and fewer laid-off workers finding jobs - CNA

Some workers are finding the transition into their next role taking slightly longer, said Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau.

Office workers in Singapore's central business district on Apr 16, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Raj Nadarajan)

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Davina Tham 21 Sep 2026 12:00PM (Updated: 21 Sep 2026 03:16PM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST SINGAPORE: Retrenchments in Singapore rose to 4,620 in the second quarter of 2026, reaching the highest level since Q4 2020, the latest labour market data showed on Monday (Sep 21).

This raised the retrenchment incidence to 2.0 per 1,000 employees, up from 1.6 in the previous quarter.

The higher retrenchments were driven by business reorganisation and restructuring in outward-oriented sectors like manufacturing, information and communications, and financial services, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).