SINGAPORE – Border restrictions and manpower demand in growth sectors have pushed job vacancies in Singapore to an all-time high of 98,700 in September, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday (Dec 15).
This is a sharp rise from the 92,100 job vacancies (seasonally adjusted) reported for June 2021.
There were 209 job openings for every 100 unemployed persons in September 2021, up from 163 in June 2021. The ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons rose to above two for the first time in over two decades. These are seasonally adjusted figures.
This marked the fifth consecutive quarter that vacancies have risen, although the pace of increase has slowed.
The rising vacancies is due to border restrictions that restrict the inflow of foreign labour, which led to total unemployment (excluding migrant domestic workers) declining by 173,100 since December 2019, notwithstanding the strong employment growth.
In particular, this is observed in sectors which have seen a substantial drop in work permit holders, namely manufacturing, construction, food and beverage services and administrative and support services. These sectors accounted for 38 per cent of all job vacancies.
“The number of job vacancies and the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons is expected to remain high until border restrictions are lifted,” said the MOM in its third-quarter labour market report.
There was also sustained demand in growth sectors such as professional services, financial services, information and communications and health and social services, where resident employment has also increased in tandem.
Jobs in demand include software, web and multimedia developers, systems analysts, commercial and marketing sales executives, accountants and nurses.