NTUC’s Desmond Tan on jobs, AI and layoffs

Singapore’s retrenchment numbers just got harder to ignore. MOM data released on July 31, 2026 shows 4,500 workers were laid off in Q2 2026, up more than 17 per cent from the previous quarter and the highest figure since Q4 2020. Degree holders and workers aged 50 to 59 are bearing a disproportionate share of the impact. The anxiety is real and it is landing in living rooms across the island.

So what is actually being done about it and is it enough? In this episode of Lens on Singapore, a podcast of The Business Times, we speak with Desmond Tan, Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) of NTUC and Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, for a conversation that moves between policy, practice and the very human reality of what losing a job in Singapore looks like right now.

Why listen

• What NTUC is doing beyond the press releases  DSG Tan is specific about the programmes, the placement rates and where the gaps still exist.

• Why degree holders and mid-career PMETs are the most vulnerable group right now  The data is clear and DSG Tan does not shy away from what it means for a generation that did everything right and is still finding the ground shifting beneath them.

• What AI is actually doing to jobs versus what people fear it is doing  DSG Tan draws a careful and useful distinction between displacement, transformation and the roles that are genuinely at risk versus those being overstated.

• What workers should do right now if they feel their job is at risk  Practical, specific and honest about the limits of what any programme can guarantee.

The numbers are climbing. The support systems are being tested. This conversation tells you what is available and what you need to do to access it. Watch now.

Discover more episodes at bt.sg/podcasts. Got feedback? Email us at btpodcasts@sph.com.sg.

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Written and presented by: Claressa Monteiro (claremb@sph.com.sg)

With Desmond Tan, Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC and Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office

Executive producer: Claressa Monteiro

SEE ALSO

AI and the Singaporean worker

Producer: Nicole Teo

Coordinating producer: Chai Pei Chieh

Video production: Studio +65

A podcast by BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media

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