Reports of a weakening job market have been ever-present in headlines throughout 2025, seemingly reflecting a general sentiment of uncertainty among workers and employers alike — one that I myself have felt. However, interestingly, the latest labour statistics released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) don’t agree with this lived experience, instead, pointing to a labour market that is fairly stable and even growing, albeit slowly.
For the full year of 2025, Singapore recorded total employment growth of 57 300, which MOM highlights is an improvement from 2024, where total employment growth was 44 500. As with last year, hiring was concentrated in financial services, and health and social services, showing a continued demand for essential services and the strengthening of the financial sector amidst global uncertainty. Notably, the professional services sector, which was the final large sector hiring in 2024, was not mentioned in this year’s advanced report.
The report specifically focussed on fourth quarter (Q4) performance of 2025, where employment increased by 19 600 in Q4, outperforming the entire first half of the year. However, this figure was significantly lower than MOM’s initial expected increase of 25 100.
At the same time, unemployment figures remained relatively stable. Overall employment rate remained at 2.0% for the year of 2025, identical to 2024. Likewise, the resident unemployment rate remained constant at 2.8%, though citizen unemployment rate increased marginally, from 2.9% in 2024 to 3.0% in 2025.
On the other hand, incidences of retrenchment increased and a smaller proportion of firms are planning to raise wages, perhaps showing more caution from companies.
In 2024, 5.9 per 1000 employees was retrenched. This increased to 6.2 per 1000 employees in 2025, or 13 020 in 2024 to 14 400 in 2025. The primary reason cited for this was, of course, reorganisation and restructuring. This perhaps reflects how companies are still figuring out how to recalibrate their workforce while integrating new technologies and attempting to further improve productivity.
In December 2024, 32% of firms planned to increase wages, while in December 2025, only 19.3% to 26.4% of companies intended to do the same. Seemingly reacting to these less optimistic statistics, MOM concludes the report with a comprehensive outline of ways that everyone can upskill or receive guidance from those within their industry.
Taken together, the data seems to portray a lukewarm labour market. In other words, while it is not flourishing, the Singapore job market seems to be showing resilience to the general volatility occurring worldwide. However, to those entering the job market, this may not be enough to assuage their concerns. Stability, after all, can feel indistinguishable from stagnation.
