Jump in redundancies amid restructuring in 2014: MOM (Amended)

ECONOMIC restructuring and re-organisation in companies took an even bigger toll on workers in 2014, as redundancies jumped from 11,560 or 5.8 workers per 1,000 in 2013 to 12,930 or 6.3 per 1,000.

But the jump affected only non-resident workers, according to a report released on Thursday morning by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). The share of resident workers - Singaporeans and Permanent Residents - in redundancy fell last year. The number of resident workers laid off slipped from 7,520 in 2013 to 7,240 in 2014.

The labour market remained tight despite the increase in layoffs. This made it easier for resident workers laid off to get re-employed within six months of redundancy. The rate of re-entry for these workers rose for a third straight quarter to 59 per cent in December 2014.

Over a longer period of within 12 months, 68 per cent of resident workers made redundant in the first three quarters were rehired by December, up from 66 per cent for the preceding cohort. About half of these workers took a month or less to find a job.

Correction note:

An earlier version reported wrongly that the number of resident workers slipped from 2014 to 2015. It should have been from 2013 to 2014. We are sorry for the error.