PMET job cuts mostly in sectors going through restructuring

Singapore

NEARLY two-thirds of professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) layoffs in 2018 happened in sectors undergoing restructuring, said Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo on Monday.

The ministry is also closely monitoring certain PMET segments, such as older job seekers and the long-term unemployed, she added, noting that the resident long-term unemployment rate for PMETs was 0.8 per cent.

Mrs Teo said that some 5,400 local PMETs were let go last year. Manpower Ministry data had earlier shown that there were 6,980 retrenchments of PMETs in all for the year.

She was speaking in Parliament in reply to questions such as Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Daniel Goh's query on why PMETs made up more than three-quarters of last year's local retrenchments.

Mrs Teo cited the wholesale trade, financial and insurance services, information and communications and professional services industries as sectors behind most PMET job cuts.

She added, to a follow-up query by Ang Wei Neng (Jurong GRC): "I have qualitatively explained that the sectors involved are those that are undergoing restructuring to the largest extent."

MP Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio GRC) asked for the share of layoffs by multinational or foreign firms.

"We do not track the retrenchment numbers according to whether the employer was a multinational or a local company, but I understand where your question is coming from," Mrs Teo replied.

Using staff headcount as a proxy measure, she said that companies with more than 200 workers typically employ some two-thirds of PMETs, but laid off 56 per cent of such workers.