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Singapore’s Q2 2026 labour market: More jobs, more layoffs and fewer vacancies
Singapore added 11,400 jobs in Q2 2026, up from 9,400 in Q1, but retrenchments rose to 4,620 and vacancies fell to 68,600. Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau said moving between jobs could be challenging and pointed to government support to help workers prepare for new roles.[25]
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Key takeaways
- Singapore added 11,400 jobs in Q2 2026, up from 9,400 in Q1, but retrenchments rose to 4,620 and vacancies fell to 68,600.
- Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau said moving between jobs could be challenging and pointed to government support to help workers prepare for new roles.[25]
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openai.comCreate a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: How did Singapore’s labour market change in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first quarter—including retrenchments and their cau. Article summary: Singapore’s labour market grew faster in Q2 2026 than in Q1, but it also showed signs of softening: retrenchments increased, vacancies fell, and fewer laid-off residents returned to work within six months.[5][6][7] - **R. Topic tags: general, general web, news. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, charts with fake numbers
Singapore’s labour market expanded faster in the second quarter of 2026, but the gains masked a more difficult picture for some workers. Retrenchments rose, job openings declined and a smaller share of retrenched residents returned to employment within six months.2
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Employment grew, but resident gains slowed
Total employment increased by 11,400 in Q2, compared with 9,400 in Q1. Non-resident employment accounted for 9,200 of the Q2 increase, up from 4,100 in Q1. Resident employment still grew, but its quarterly gain slowed from 5,400 to 2,200.2
Unemployment remained low and broadly stable. The overall rate was 1.9% in June, compared with 2.0% in March; the resident rate was 2.9% in both months.2
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Retrenchments rose as businesses reorganised
Employers retrenched 4,620 workers in Q2, up from 3,830 in Q1. That was 2.0 per 1,000 employees, compared with 1.6 the previous quarter. The increase was concentrated in outward-oriented manufacturing, information and communications, and financial services. Business reorganisation or restructuring remained the main reason reported for retrenchments.4
Fewer laid-off residents returned quickly to work
The share of retrenched residents who returned to employment within six months fell from 60.7% to 54.9%. The 12-month re-entry rate was broadly stable at 69.8%, although that measure covers earlier retrenchment cohorts and should not be read as the one-year outcome for Q2’s layoffs.4
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Job vacancies also declined, from 73,300 in March to 68,600 in June.18 Taken together, the figures show why stronger overall employment growth did not necessarily make the next job easier to find for a retrenched worker.
What Jasmin Lau said about the transition
Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau acknowledged that moving from one job to the next can be challenging, even while opportunities remain. She said the government would support workers in learning, adapting and preparing for roles they could move into; reporting on her response also highlighted career-conversion programmes as part of that support.22
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Singapore added 11,400 jobs in Q2 2026, up from 9,400 in Q1, but retrenchments rose to 4,620 and vacancies fell to 68,600.
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Singapore added 11,400 jobs in Q2 2026, up from 9,400 in Q1, but retrenchments rose to 4,620 and vacancies fell to 68,600. Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau said moving between jobs could be challenging and pointed to government support to help workers prepare for new roles.[25]