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According to quarterly results published by Blackbox Research, anxiety over jobs has jumped up to the highest level since the company started polling Singaporeans in 2023, with 21% of respondents considering it an important issue right now (up from a low of 13% in July last year).
It’s not a surprise, as even the Ministry of Manpower acknowledged recently that slowdown in hiring is affecting both fresh graduates as well as older, retrenched workers looking for a new job. Both are seeing extended waiting times and fewer opportunities available — in no small part due to widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence.
That said, as I reported last month, there are still roughly 40,000 vacancies for qualified PMET candidates and, according to the quarterly survey by ManpowerGroup, the overall employment outlook remains positive — even if not as rosy as in the previous years.
Who’s hiring?
32%, or very nearly 1 in 3 employers, are planning to increase their headcounts between October and December. Nevertheless, 19% anticipated employment cuts, which leaves us with a Net Employment Outlook (NEO) of +13%. Compared to Q4 2025’s NEO of +20%, it’s a significant drop this year.
Yet, that is positive, but not overly so: it is the lowest reading since the pandemic and well below the 29% global average.
Of course, your personal prospects are going to depend on your profession and your expectations of the company you would like to work for.
The list is topped by Trade & Logistics at 22%, which is understandable given the global demand for tech products made in and shipped out of Singapore. However, the hiring prospects for that industry decreased slightly, by 4 percentage points.
Meanwhile, compared to 2025, the most improved profession is the good, old Singaporean staple: Finance & Insurance at 20%.
Net Employment Outlook by Industry
As it turns out, banks and other institutions have not been affected by AI too badly, and some have even stepped up hiring of entry-level workforce, with UOB announcing plans to bring in 1,000 graduates over the next 12 months.
The second sector on the rise is Construction, which, however, is unlikely to be a target for most Singaporeans, as the number of jobs which would be attractive to locals there is relatively small.
Unfortunately, nearly all other industries have recorded steep drops compared to last year. Information as a whole fell by a whopping 18 percentage points.
One small exception is the “Tech & IT Services” specialty sector, which MPG carved out from across Manufacturing, Information and Professional Services, to summarise the hiring situation for technical staff across multiple industries.
However, by including manufacturing in the mix, I suspect the picture may be a bit more optimistic than it really is, given the fact that AI boom has boosted employment in local factories, but AI adoption in software-related activities has likely badly dampened hiring for developers.
This might be the reason why Information as a whole dropped by a whopping 18 percentage points compared to last year.
Some confirmation of this uneven situation within the broader IT sector is found in the official MOM data, which reports a large number of vacancies, but also shrinking employment in parts of the industry. Seemingly contradictory trends can be true in tech if there is a mismatch between the skills required and the skills possessed by potential candidates (and employees made redundant).
All in all, the employment situation in Singapore is getting tougher, although jobs remain available and unemployment continues to hover around 3% for residents. It’s the entry or re-entry into employment that have seen the biggest change, with more candidates having to wait several months more than usual to secure a job.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singapore’s job landscape here.
Featured image: tang90246 / depositphotos
