MOM data shows 14,400 retrenchments in 2025 amid stronger employment growth
Retrenchments in Singapore rose to 14,400 in 2025 despite overall employment growth, driven by business restructuring and sector-specific layoffs, says MOM.
- Total employment in 2025 rose by 57,300, marking stronger growth than 2024, while Q4 saw 19,600 new jobs.
- Retrenchments increased to 14,400, largely due to business restructuring in Transportation & Storage and Financial Services.
- Unemployment remained stable at 2%, with cautious hiring and selective workforce adjustments expected in early 2026.
SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) released the Labour Market Advance Release for the fourth quarter of 2025 on 29 January 2026, revealing a rise in retrenchments alongside continued employment growth.
Total employment in Singapore increased by 19,600 in Q4 2025, slightly below the 25,100 gain recorded in Q3.
However, the figure surpassed Q4 2024’s 7,700 and Q4 2023’s 3,900, highlighting stronger year-on-year labour market growth.
Resident and non-resident employment growth improved in 2025 compared with the previous year, driven in part by seasonal year-end hiring in administrative and support services, as well as retail trade.
MOM noted that a details of Q4 employment changes, such as resident and non-resident employment breakdowns, number of job vacancies, labour turnover, and re-entry rates among retrenched residents, will be released in mid-March.
Employment growth in certain outward-oriented sectors, including wholesale trade, information and communications, and transportation and storage, softened amid ongoing global economic uncertainties.
For the full year, total employment growth reached 57,300, up from 44,500 in 2024.
Resident employment growth remained concentrated in Financial Services and Health & Social Services, while non-resident gains were mainly in Construction, particularly Work Permit Holders (WPH).
The overall unemployment rate for 2025 stayed at 2%, with resident unemployment at 2.8% and citizen unemployment at 3%, levels largely consistent with the past two years.
Retrenchments increased to 14,400 in 2025, equivalent to 6.2 retrenchments per 1,000 employees, compared with 13,020 (5.9 per 1,000) in 2024.
The rise was largely due to higher lay-offs in the first three quarters, particularly in Transportation & Storage and Financial Services.
MOM indicated that business reorganisation remained the main driver.
In Q4 2025, 3,600 employees were retrenched, maintaining a low incidence of 1.5 retrenchments per 1,000 employees, similar to Q3’s 1.6.
MOM emphasised that overall retrenchment levels remain near pre-recessionary averages.
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) noted that retrenchments reflected greater business restructuring rather than broad-based job losses.
It highlighted the importance of early support for workers to reskill and transition into new roles amid technological shifts such as artificial intelligence.
Looking ahead, business expectations for Q1 2026 suggest continued labour market expansion, though firms are approaching hiring with more caution.
MOM reported that the proportion of firms expecting to hire edged down from 44.1% in September 2025 to 43.3% in December 2025, while the share anticipating wage increases rose from 19.3% to 26.4%, indicating ongoing competition for talent.
Expectations for retrenchments have risen slightly, from 2.3% to 4.3%, but MOM stressed that adjustments are likely to remain selective rather than widespread.
