Retrenchment Trends for Q2 2026, Attributions to AI, Employment Facilitation Gaps, Re-employment and Wage Outcomes, and Targeted Support Measures for Displaced Workers
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns retrenchment trends in the second quarter of 2026, employment facilitation, and support measures for displaced workers amid economic softening. Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan, and Mr Alex Yeo asked the Acting Minister for Manpower about rising redundancies, falling vacancies, notification delays, and transition support, especially for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs). Ms He Ting Ru questioned the impact of artificial intelligence adoption versus cyclical restructuring on redundancies, grant compliance, and non-resident retrenchment and re-entry rates. Mr Saktiandi Supaat requested statistics on resident PMET re-employment rates at 12 and 24 months, including age breakdowns and subsequent wage reductions. In response, Ms Jasmin Lau stated that these questions were addressed by the earlier reply to Parliamentary Questions No 1 to 10 in that day's Order Paper.
Transcript
68 Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) how is the Ministry assessing the latest rise in retrenchments and fall in job vacancies; and (b) what targeted measures will support displaced workers and strengthen labour market resilience amid signs of economic softening.
69 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry has received any recent feedback from employment facilitation agencies regarding challenges in reaching affected employees to provide employment facilitation support when Mandatory Retrenchment Notifications are submitted after employees have left the company; and (b) what additional measures can the tripartite partners consider to address such challenges.
70 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) what proportion of the 4,620 job redundancies in the second quarter of 2026 were due to cyclical restructuring rather than AI adoption; (b) whether the Ministry will begin tracking AI-attributed retrenchments as a distinct category; and (c) how the Ministry verifies if firms receiving AI grants are unfairly displacing workers.
71 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) what proportion of the 4,620 workers retrenched in the second quarter of 2026 were non-residents; (b) how this compares with past non-resident retrenchments; (c) why the six-month re-entry rate for retrenched workers fell to 54.9% from 60.7%; and (d) what is the breakdown by residency status for the re-entry rate for retrenched workers.
72 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) for the latest available cohort of retrenched resident professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), what proportions were re-employed at 12 and 24 months after retrenchment, with a breakdown by age group; and (b) among those re-employed (i) what proportions earned less than before retrenchment and (ii) what were the median percentage wage reductions for this group.
73 Mr Alex Yeo asked the Acting Minister for Manpower regarding the Labour Market Report Second Quarter 2026 reporting an increase in retrenchments, whether the Ministry will (i) review the adequacy of advance notice and job transition assistance for affected employees and (ii) provide further support measures for retrenched employees, particularly for PMETs in information and communications, and financial services, where there has also been a reported drop in job vacancies.
Ms Jasmin Lau: These questions have been addressed by the reply to Parliamentary Questions No 1 to 10 in the Order Paper for today. [Please refer to "Analysing Retrenchment and Re-employment Data, and Enhancing Employment Support In Light Of Latest Labour Market Report", Official Report, 6 October 2026, Vol 96, Issue 38, Oral Answers to Questions section.]