<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Aug 1, 2009
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Job losses double <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Sue-Ann Chia
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Job seekers at a recruitment booth at the Paya Lebar MRT station. The loss of jobs is a dramatic change of fortune from last year. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->THE job market shows signs of improvement but for one surprise blip: The number of jobs wiped out between April and June this year has doubled to 12,400. With this increase, Singapore is facing for the first time a situation it last encountered in the 2003 recession: a drop in employment level for two quarters in a row.
In all, Singapore lost 18,800 jobs in the first half of this year, according to preliminary employment figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Friday.
The loss of jobs is a dramatic change of fortune from last year, when more than 100,000 jobs were created in the first half as the economy boomed.
Analysts believe that most of the job losses in this second quarter are due to retrenchments and employers not renewing the work permits of foreign workers. The rest can be traced to bosses freezing employment, retirement and redundancies or the early release of contract workers.
But at the same time, bosses are firing fewer workers. Layoffs and redundancies have halved to 5,500, a decline the labour movement indicated last month when it said there were fewer job cuts among unionised companies.
But what struck most analysts is the unemployment rate, which has held steady at 3.3 per cent in June. This exceeded their expectations as they had forecast a higher rate, above 3.5 per cent. They attributed the lower rate to the non-renewal of the work permits of foreigners, who are then not counted among the unemployed here.
Despite the mixed signals, the overall picture of the job market is 'much brighter' than projected, said analysts. 'We are seeing a gradual bottoming out in the labour market before it improves towards the end of the year,' said DBS Bank economist Irvin Seah.
He does not share the view of government and labour leaders who had warned of the threat of a second round of layoffs later this year.
Both Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong and labour chief Lim Swee Say, in their comments on the latest figures on Friday, said it was still too early to celebrate. 'The most important message is to remind all of us that the worst is not yet over,' Mr Gan told reporters at the sidelines of an event. But the figures are 'encouraging', he said, adding: 'It reflects the fact that workers, employers and the Government have been able to work together to work through this recession as a team.'
Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Job losses double <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Sue-Ann Chia
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Job seekers at a recruitment booth at the Paya Lebar MRT station. The loss of jobs is a dramatic change of fortune from last year. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->THE job market shows signs of improvement but for one surprise blip: The number of jobs wiped out between April and June this year has doubled to 12,400. With this increase, Singapore is facing for the first time a situation it last encountered in the 2003 recession: a drop in employment level for two quarters in a row.
In all, Singapore lost 18,800 jobs in the first half of this year, according to preliminary employment figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Friday.
The loss of jobs is a dramatic change of fortune from last year, when more than 100,000 jobs were created in the first half as the economy boomed.
Analysts believe that most of the job losses in this second quarter are due to retrenchments and employers not renewing the work permits of foreign workers. The rest can be traced to bosses freezing employment, retirement and redundancies or the early release of contract workers.
But at the same time, bosses are firing fewer workers. Layoffs and redundancies have halved to 5,500, a decline the labour movement indicated last month when it said there were fewer job cuts among unionised companies.
But what struck most analysts is the unemployment rate, which has held steady at 3.3 per cent in June. This exceeded their expectations as they had forecast a higher rate, above 3.5 per cent. They attributed the lower rate to the non-renewal of the work permits of foreigners, who are then not counted among the unemployed here.
Despite the mixed signals, the overall picture of the job market is 'much brighter' than projected, said analysts. 'We are seeing a gradual bottoming out in the labour market before it improves towards the end of the year,' said DBS Bank economist Irvin Seah.
He does not share the view of government and labour leaders who had warned of the threat of a second round of layoffs later this year.
Both Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong and labour chief Lim Swee Say, in their comments on the latest figures on Friday, said it was still too early to celebrate. 'The most important message is to remind all of us that the worst is not yet over,' Mr Gan told reporters at the sidelines of an event. But the figures are 'encouraging', he said, adding: 'It reflects the fact that workers, employers and the Government have been able to work together to work through this recession as a team.'
Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times
