📋 Tender Overview
Introduction1. The Manpower Research and Statistics Department of the Ministry of Manpower published its annual Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2020 LFAR today1 based on findings from the mid-year Comprehensive Labour Force Survey CLFS 2020.2. The LFAR typically analyses longer-term structural trends of indicators such as employment rate and income growth which are not reported in the quarterly labour market reports. This year the CLFS was conducted in the midst of the Circuit Breaker when curbs on business activities and movement were at their peak. Hence LFAR 2020 highlights the impact of COVID-19 layered on top of structural trends.3. The findings showed that the pandemic had varied impact on different workforce segments. Resident employment rate continued to rise for seniors but declined for youths. Non-PMETs were more impacted compared to PMETs with larger increases in unemployment and time-related under-employment. Incomes moderated at the median and more so at the 20th percentile. Help from the government mitigated the impact on lower-income earners.Main FindingsEmployment rate for seniors continued to rise and fell more sharply for youths4. Preliminary estimates in MOMs Labour Market Advance Release showed that resident employment level rebounded in 3Q 2020 to near pre-COVID levels. However when we compared employment rates in June 2020 at the height of the Circuit Breaker with June 2019 the impact varied across age groups.5. Despite the pandemics impact on the economy employment rate remained high 80.3 for residents aged 25 to 64 the bulk of whom are in their prime working age2 and was close to the average in the last five years 80.5. Among females the employment rate largely held up while that for males moderated by 0.9-point3.6. Employment rate for residents aged 65 over continued its sustained improvement rising by 0.9-point from 27.6 in June 2019 to 28.5 in June 2020 a result of ongoing efforts to raise the employability of senior workers. For example the Special Employment Credit has been made available since 2011 along with other measures to support senior employment.7. Employment rate among youths aged 15-24 continued its downward trend4. Over the years more youths in this age group have remained in education and would have sought employment on part-time basis often in hospitality-related sectors that were harder hit by the pandemic. The two effects combined caused the employment rate decline of 3-point for this age group to be sharpest among all age groups.Non-PMETs experienced larger increase in unemployment rate than PMETs8. As industries more severely impacted by COVID-19 have a higher concentration of non-PMETs the resident unemployment rate5 increased by a larger magnitude for non-PMETs 1.7-point from June 2019 to June 2020 than PMETs6 0.6-point. The unemployment rates for both groups remained below previous recessionary peaks.9. The increase in long-term unemployment rates was considerably smaller for both groups non-PMETs 0.1-point PMETs 0.2-point. Nevertheless we are monitoring the long-term unemployment rates closely.10. The National Jobs Council has been working closely with the tripartite partners to create jobs traineeships attachments and training opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package. As of end-September around 45000 jobseekers have been placed with about half of the job placements in non-PMET roles. The Government has also set aside 1 billion for the Jobs Growth Incentive JGI to enable firms that continue to do well to bring forward their hiring plans and create more good jobs for locals.11. To better help jobseekers access these opportunities Workforce Singapore WSG has set up the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Centres in all HDB towns and deploys the mobile Careers Connect On-the-Go CCOTG to bring career coaching services closer to jobseekers.Median income dipped12. Real median income7 growth was -0.3P a reversal from the 2.2 growth in 2019. Despite the moderation in 2020 real median income growth over the recent five years 2015 to 2020 2.7 p.a.P remained close to that over the preceding five years 2010 to 2015 3.1 p.a..Steeper decline in income at the 20th percentile but help from government to supplement incomes mitigated impact13. Industries more adversely affected by COVID-19 had a higher concentration of lower-income earners including the self-employed whose earnings were also reduced.As a result real income of full-timers at the 20th percentile fell in June 2020 -4.5P.14. The income data does not take into account governmental payouts such as the Workfare Income Supplement WIS that supplement the income of lower-income earners. Other temporary one-off payments such as the Workfare Special Payment WSP for lower-income earners the COVID-19 Support Grant CSG for employees and the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme SIRS for the self-employed would also help to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 please refer to Annex A for details. After adding WIS and WSP payouts the 20th percentile income level in 2020 is similar to the level in 2019.815. Over a five-year period from 2015 to 2020 real income growth at the 20th percentile 2.9 p.a.P remained slightly higher than at the median 2.7 p.a.P.Larger increase in time-related under-employment rate among non-PMETs whose jobs were less suitable for remote work16. The resident time-related under-employment rate increased from 3.1 in 2019 to 4.1 in 2020 but remained below the rate during the Global Financial Crisis in 2009 4.3. The increase was sharper in industries severely affected by COVID-19. As most of these industries employed more non-PMETs and whose jobs are less suitable for remote work non-PMETs experienced larger increases in time-related under-employment rate than PMETs.
