Key facts
- Layoffs reached 4,800 in Q3 2026, the highest since Q4 2020.
- Retrenchments are elevated in outward-oriented sectors.
- Overall unemployment rate unchanged at 2.0% in September 2026.
- Resident and citizen unemployment rates rose to 3.0% and 3.1%.
Singapore's retrenchment rate in the third quarter of 2026 reached its highest level since late 2020, driven by business reorganisations, the Ministry of Manpower said on Friday. Layoffs rose to 4,800 in the third quarter, from 4,620 in the second quarter. The ministry noted that retrenchments remain elevated in outward-oriented sectors. The figure for July to September 2026 is the highest since the 5,640 layoffs recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Retrenchments fell after 2020 when Singapore's population declined, with travel curbs and job losses encouraging foreign workers to leave the business hub, creating a tighter labour market. Singapore's overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.0% in September 2026, but resident and citizen unemployment rates edged up to 3.0% and 3.1%, from 2.9% and 3.0% in August, respectively. The ministry said the share of companies expecting to retrench over the next three months edged up to 3.1%, from 2.8% a month earlier. Total employment grew by 27,700 in the third quarter of this year, higher than the 11,400 in the second quarter and 25,100 in the same quarter a year earlier.