Labour Market Advance Release 3Q 2026

Overview

              Advance data indicate that Singapore’s labour market continued to expand in 3Q 2026, with stronger employment growth, although conditions remained uneven across sectors. Total employment¹ grew by 27,700, with faster growth for both resident and non-resident employment. Retrenchments edged up and remained elevated in selected outward-oriented sectors². While hiring and wage expectations improved in September, employers remained cautious amid economic uncertainty.

Main Findings³

Both resident and non-resident employment grew faster than the previous quarter

2            Total employment grew by 27,700 in 3Q 2026, higher than the 11,400 in 2Q 2026 and 25,100 in 3Q 2025. Both resident and non-resident employment grew faster than the previous quarter.

3              Resident⁴ employment growth continued to be mainly supported by essential and public services, while growth in outward oriented sectors remained subdued amid global economic uncertainty. Non-resident employment growth continued to account for the majority of employment growth, mainly in sectors such as Construction and Manufacturing.

Unemployment rates edged up slightly

4              The overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.0% in September 2026. Resident and citizen unemployment rates edged up slightly to 3.0% and 3.1% respectively, from 2.9% and 3.0% in August 2026.

Retrenchments remained elevated amid restructuring pressures

5            The number of retrenchments increased from 4,620 in 2Q 2026 to 4,800 in 3Q 2026, though the incidence of retrenchment remained at 2.0 per 1,000 employees over the same period. Retrenchments remained elevated in selected outward-oriented sectors, while business reorganisation continued to be the main driver of retrenchments.

Labour Market Outlook

6              Forward-looking indicators were mixed in September. The share of firms expecting to hire over the next three months rose from 30.5% in August 2026 to 42.3% in September 2026, while the companies expecting to raise wages increased from 16.9% to 19.9% over the same period. However, both remained below July’s levels, suggesting that employers remained cautious about hiring and wage increases amid continued uncertainty. The share of firms expecting to retrench also edged up from 2.8% in August to 3.1% in September. This increase, alongside higher actual retrenchments, points to emerging weaknesses in parts of the labour market that warrant close monitoring.

Conclusion

7              Against a more uncertain global outlook and rapid technological change, companies will need to keep adapting and investing in their workforce, while workers will need to keep their skills relevant. The Government will continue to support employers and workers in doing so, including reviewing existing schemes and strengthening support where appropriate. Existing support includes: 

1. For employers: Employers can draw on various schemes to support the reskilling and upskilling of their workers, such as the Career Conversion Programmes and Mid-Career Pathways Programme. The SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant (Job Redesign+) provides funding support of up to 70% for workforce transformation and job redesign project costs, capped at $150,000 per enterprise, with higher support levels provided for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

    

2. For workers: Singaporeans can tap on career guidance and job matching services provided by the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) and NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to identify suitable opportunities. Mid-career Singaporeans can also benefit from the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, which reduces financial barriers to upskilling through the SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up of $4,000 and training allowance. Lower-wage workers are also encouraged to tap on Workfare Skills Support to upskill and reskill, to boost their career mobility.

    

3. For fresh graduates: The GRaduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) helps fresh graduates to enter the workforce through opportunities to gain industry relevant skills and experience. Applications for GRIT are open to the 2026 graduating cohort and can be made through MyCareersFuture and Careers@Gov.

    

4. For the involuntarily unemployed: The SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme provides eligible involuntarily unemployed individuals with temporary financial support of up to $6,000 over six months while they actively search for a new job.

8              The Labour Market Report Third Quarter 2026, to be released in mid-December 2026, will provide a comprehensive assessment and more details of the labour market situation in 3Q 2026. This will include resident and non-resident employment breakdowns, sectoral data, number of job vacancies, labour turnover, and re-entry rates among retrenched residents. For more information on the trends for total employment change, retrenchments, and unemployment rates, please refer to the Annex.

For More Information

9              The full report is available online on MOM’s Research and Statistics Department website at stats.mom.gov.sg.

10           For data requests and queries pertaining to the report, please reach out to MOM’s Research and Statistics Department at mom_rsd@mom.gov.sg.