Skills mismatch could constrain Singapore's labour market recovery: economists

SINGAPORE'S labour market is poised for a recovery this year, as long as the Covid-19 situation does not worsen, said economists, but they added that skills mismatches, if not addressed, could constrain growth.

DBS senior economist Irvin Seah said: "The last 2 years, we were struggling more with unemployment or retrenchment of a cyclical nature, but what lie ahead of us are essentially structural factors."

He said many companies have had to look to new business models and technologies amid the disruption wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, and this has led to some workers being made redundant.