Written Answer to PQ on Measures to Support Resident Employment Growth
NOTICE PAPER NO. 1517 OF 2026 FOR SITTING ON 3 NOVEMBER 2026
QUESTION NO. 3343 FOR ORAL ANSWER
MP: Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan
To ask the Acting Minister for Manpower what measures the Ministry is considering to support resident employment growth, in response to the finding in the second quarter of 2026 that non-resident employment growth outnumbered resident employment growth four to one.
Answer:
The comparison between resident and non-resident employment growth needs to be understood in context. In the second quarter of 2026, resident employment grew by 2,200, while non-resident employment grew by 9,200. The non-resident increase was driven mainly by Work Permit holders taking on jobs in Construction and Manufacturing that are unlikely to be filled by residents. On the other hand, resident employment grew across a different range of sectors, including Transportation & Storage, Public Administration & Education, Health & Social Services, Professional Services, Financial Services, and Information & Communications.
2 Our focus is to enable as many Singaporeans as possible to participate meaningfully in the workforce and access good jobs. We are doing this through several fronts. Our economic agencies continue to attract companies to invest and set up operations in Singapore, so that jobs in growth sectors can be accessible to our residents. We continue to support employers to create and redesign good jobs through the Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package. We also ensure that Singaporeans are fairly considered for job opportunities through the Fair Consideration Framework, and that our work pass framework is calibrated to complement and not displace our local workforce.
3 We will also continue to provide career conversion and reskilling support, including through Career Conversion Programmes and the SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme, to help mid-career Singaporeans transition into growth jobs with good longer-term prospects. As our resident workforce grows more slowly, sustaining employment and income growth for Singaporeans will increasingly depend on productivity, job quality, and career progression alongside efforts to grow resident employment headcount.