Singapore Jobs Market Q3 2026: Retrenchments Rise to 4,800 Despite 27,700 New Jobs

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower said on 30 October 2026 that retrenchments rose to 4,800 in the third quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly figure since the fourth quarter of 2020, even as the Singapore jobs market added 27,700 jobs in the same period. The figures come from the ministry's Labour Market Advance Release for the third quarter of 2026, published on 30 October 2026, and they describe a market pulling in two directions: more people in work overall, and more people losing jobs in restructuring.

Total employment grew by 27,700 in the third quarter of 2026, up from growth of 11,400 in the second quarter of 2026 and 25,100 in the third quarter of 2025. At the same time, retrenchments rose from 4,620 in the second quarter of 2026 to 4,800 in the third quarter of 2026. The ministry said the incidence of retrenchment stayed at 2.0 per 1,000 employees, unchanged from the previous quarter.

At a glance: Singapore jobs market, third quarter of 2026	Detail
Source	Ministry of Manpower, Labour Market Advance Release, third quarter of 2026
Published	30 October 2026
Retrenchments	4,800, up from 4,620 in the second quarter of 2026
Previous high	5,640 in the fourth quarter of 2020
Retrenchment incidence	2.0 per 1,000 employees, unchanged
Total employment growth	27,700, up from 11,400 in the second quarter of 2026
Overall unemployment, September 2026	2.0%, unchanged
Resident unemployment, September 2026	3.0%, up from 2.9% in August 2026
Citizen unemployment, September 2026	3.1%, up from 3.0% in August 2026
Full report due	Mid-December 2026

Singapore jobs: growth and retrenchments at the same time

The ministry said both resident and non-resident employment grew faster in the third quarter of 2026 than in the previous quarter. Resident employment growth continued to be supported mainly by essential and public services, while growth in outward-oriented sectors stayed subdued amid global economic uncertainty. Non-resident employment growth continued to account for the majority of employment growth, mainly in construction and manufacturing. Some parts of the market are still adding staff, while others are cutting. The ministry's employment figures exclude migrant domestic workers, as stated in the release itself.

Which sectors are cutting jobs in Singapore

Business reorganisation continued to be the main driver of retrenchments, the ministry said, and retrenchments remained elevated in selected outward-oriented sectors: information and communications, financial services and manufacturing. Those three sectors are the most exposed to global demand, and the ministry linked their weaker position to continued economic uncertainty.

The release does not name individual employers, and it does not give a sector-by-sector retrenchment count at this advance stage. The fuller breakdown, including sectoral data, job vacancies and re-entry rates among retrenched residents, will come with the full Labour Market Report for the third quarter of 2026 in mid-December 2026.

Unemployment in Singapore edges up for residents

The overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.0% in September 2026. Beneath that flat headline, the resident unemployment rate edged up to 3.0% in September 2026 from 2.9% in August 2026, and the citizen unemployment rate edged up to 3.1% from 3.0% over the same month. Those small moves point in the same direction as the retrenchment figures: conditions for residents softened slightly even as total employment grew.

For context, the last time quarterly retrenchments were higher than 4,800 was the fourth quarter of 2020, when 5,640 workers were retrenched during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The comparison is to the count of retrenchments, not to the unemployment rate. Unemployment in September 2026, at 2.0% overall, is far below pandemic levels, and the ministry's warning is measured: it spoke of emerging weaknesses in parts of the labour market that warrant close monitoring, not of a broad downturn.

What Singapore employers expect next

Forward-looking indicators were mixed in September 2026, the ministry said. 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, and the share expecting to raise wages rose from 16.9% to 19.9% over the same period. Both figures remained below their July 2026 levels, which is why the ministry said employers remained cautious about hiring and wages amid continued uncertainty. The share of firms expecting to retrench also edged up, from 2.8% in August 2026 to 3.1% in September 2026.

Taken together, those survey results describe employers who are still hiring, but more cautiously than they were in July 2026, and a small but growing minority who expect to cut staff.

What to do next if you are looking for work in Singapore

First, aim at the parts of the market the release shows are still growing: essential and public services for resident employment, and construction and manufacturing for non-resident employment. Candidates in those three sectors should expect a slower, more selective process.

Second, use the official channels the ministry itself points to: career guidance and job matching from the Skills and Workforce Development Agency and NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute, and Graduate Industry Traineeships for the 2026 cohort through MyCareersFuture and Careers@Gov. Workers from outside Singapore should check work-permit eligibility and fees before applying, since a job offer does not by itself guarantee a permit. Growentix's guide to Singapore work permit eligibility and fees explains the main routes and costs for workers from India, and the same rule applies to every nationality: apply through the employer's official careers page or a government portal, never through an agent who asks for payment upfront.

Third, treat the advance figures as preliminary. The ministry states the data for the third quarter of 2026 are preliminary, and the full report in mid-December 2026 will add the sectoral breakdown, vacancy numbers and re-entry rates jobseekers need for a fuller picture. Anyone making a major decision, such as relocating for a role, should wait for that fuller report or confirm the employer's position directly. The wider pattern of firms trimming roles while investment pivots to artificial intelligence, covered in an earlier Growentix report on firms trimming roles as investment pivots to AI, is a global pattern in 2026, not a Singapore-only story.

The Singapore jobs market in the third quarter of 2026 is best described as expanding but uneven: employment grew faster than in the previous quarter, unemployment stayed low overall, and yet retrenchments reached their highest quarterly total since late 2020, concentrated in outward-oriented sectors and driven by business reorganisation. This article is drawn from the Ministry of Manpower's Labour Market Advance Release for the third quarter of 2026 and the Reuters report on the same release; readers should check the ministry's release for the full annex and footnotes.