But 70% of the locals retrenched in Q3 found jobs by Dec
By LEE U-WEN
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THE latest job numbers are in. And as expected, the economic downturn has not been kind to many workers in Singapore.
Lay-offs surged to a record quarterly high in the final three months of last year, with 9,410 people losing their jobs. This is almost three times the 3,180 laid off in the preceding Q3, according to figures released by the Ministry of Manpower's research and statistics department yesterday.
But there was some good news. Seven out of 10 locals retrenched in Q3 last year had managed to find new jobs by December - higher than the 62 per cent that did so in the previous quarter, and only slightly lower than the 73 per cent in December 2007.
For the whole of 2008, 16,880 workers were made redundant - comprising 13,920 people laid off and 2,970 whose contracts were terminated prematurely. This works out to 11 workers made redundant out of every 1,000 employees - almost double the rate of six per 1,000 in 2007.
Still, the total figure for 2008 remained below the highs reached in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis (32,800, or 33 per 1,000) and the 2001 downturn after the Sept 11 attacks (27,570, or 26 per 1,000).
The MOM report also highlighted the fact that more foreigners were laid off last year, compared with locals.
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Redundancies in 2008 rose faster in percentage terms for foreigners (153 per cent) than locals (72 per cent). Although locals formed the majority - 61 per cent of redundancies last year - their share came down from 70 per cent in 2007.
On the flip side, the foreign share of total redundancies rose to a new high of 39 per cent, slightly more than the proportion of foreigners in Singapore's work force, which was 36 per cent as at last December.
The report said companies cited the economic downturn as the top reason for retrenchment, affecting 41 per cent of workers retrenched, followed closely by business restructuring (39 per cent). More than a fifth, or 22 per cent, cited high labour costs, and another 20 per cent gave high operating costs as their reason.
'This was unlike in 2007 when the top reasons for retrenchment were the discontinuation of the production line and business reorganisation,' MOM said.
As a result of the global nature of the recession, the number of workers retrenched in exercises involving businesses relocating overseas fell from 1,520 in 2007 to a record low of 1,260 last year. They accounted for only 9.1 per cent of workers retrenched by private firms, compared with 20 per cent in 2007.
The MOM report said that mature residents with tertiary education were the 'most vulnerable' group last year, 'with above-average risk of retrenchment and below-average re-employment'. This was unlike previous downturns, when the less-educated were the most vulnerable.
Giving his take on the report's findings, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said that it is likely that the redundancy figures for the first quarter of this year would be worse than the last three months of 2008.
'Given the slowdown in economy is going to last for quite a while, the labour market will remain soft for a few more quarters,' he told reporters yesterday. 'I think how long it is going to last, or how deep the recession will be, we do not know yet, but one thing for sure, I think there are still jobs available.'
He cited the example of the two integrated resorts, which will provide 45,000 jobs in the next two years. The public sector will do its part by creating 18,000 jobs.
'Our focus now is to cut costs. We want to help workers to upgrade themselves so that they can keep their jobs and also to make them more competitive. For those that are affected and lose their jobs, we will continue to help them and re-skill them. Make them more employable and help them find jobs - this is our focus. So if we are able to do this right, I think we will be able to manage the redundancy numbers,' he said.
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