Job switching rates in Singapore reach 6-year high: MOM

THE rate of job switching in Singapore rose to a six-year high in 2022, due to an increase in job opportunities alongside a continued economic recovery, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) annual Labour Force in Singapore report on Tuesday (Jan 31).

In 2022, 16.8 per cent of employed residents had changed jobs over the last two years, up from 15.3 per cent in 2021. This was mainly due to those who changed jobs in the last one year during the economic recovery, said the report, based on a survey conducted from April to July 2022.

Although the incidence of job change rose across all ages, it was more pronounced for younger workers under 30. Such workers are more likely to change jobs as they explore options early in working life, but heightened manpower demand in 2022 may also have encouraged more to seek new opportunities or resume job-switching plans that were deferred during the Covid-19 pandemic, said MOM.

The unemployment rate for workers under 30 rose to 4.3 per cent, from 3.9 per cent the year before. But MOM noted that “their long-term unemployment rate remained steady over the year at 0.3 per cent, indicating that they did not face increased difficulties in securing employment”.

Though more workers changed jobs in the last year, fewer entered the labour force. As a result, the share of employees with a job tenure of less than one year remained largely unchanged at 18 per cent.

In contrast, the percentage of longer-tenured employees – those who have been in their job for at least 10 years – reached a decade-long high at 31.1 per cent, up from 29.3 per cent in 2021.

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In 2022, there were 1.05 million residents who were outside the labour force, meaning they were neither working nor looking for a job. This was up from one million in 2021 but still lower than the pre-pandemic level of 1.09 million in 2019.

The increase “would have been higher if not for the economic recovery and the government’s hiring support measures”, said the report. Retirement remained the main reason for being outside the labour force, cited by 28.1 per cent of such respondents, up from 24.9 per cent in 2021.

Amid the economic recovery, involuntary unemployment fell to 0.8 per cent, lower than the pre-pandemic level of 1.1 per cent in 2019. Instead, the tight labour market prompted dissatisfied workers to quit and seek new opportunities, said MOM. A larger share of employed residents left their previous job due to low pay, relationship problems with colleagues or bosses, or because they disliked or lacked interest in it.

Real median income growth was 2 per cent in 2022, revised down marginally from December’s advance figure of 2.1 per cent. This was an improvement from 0.9 per cent in 2021, though still lower than the annual 3.8 per cent rate from 2014 to 2019.

This was on the back of 8.3 per cent growth in nominal median income to S$5,070, greater than the previous year’s 3.2 per cent.

Real income grew faster for workers in the bottom fifth at a rate of 4.7 per cent, up from 4.4 per cent in 2021, supported by tripartite initiatives such as the Progressive Wage Model.

Amendment note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated the 2021 figure as 4.1 per cent. The 2021 figure should be 4.4 per cent instead.