 A total of 11,560 workers were laid off last year, slightly higher than the 11,010 in 2012, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in its "Redundancy and Re-entry into Employment, 2013" report released on Thursday.
This works out to 5.8 workers per 1,000 employees, unchanged from 2012. The top reason for redundancy was the restructuring of business processes for greater work efficiency, affecting 40 per cent of the workers laid off in 2013, up from 37 per cent in 2012. High costs and reorganisation of businesses were the other key reasons cited. In a press release outlining the findings of the report, it was also noted that professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) were more vulnerable to redundancy, with 7.3 made redundant for every 1,000 PMETs, compared to production and related workers (5.7 per 1,000) and clerical, sales and service workers (2.8 per 1,000). Nonetheless, the unemployment rate of PMETs remained lower than other occupations. The number of residents laid off from PMET positions was also "not large" at 4,940. For those seeking to re-enter employment, 66 per cent of residents made redundant in the first three quarters of 2013 did so within 12 months of redundancy. This was slightly lower than the rate in 2012, due to PMETs spending more time seeking jobsthat match their skills, qualifications and salary expectations. There was, however, an improvement in the last three quarters of the year, with the rate of re-entry into employment within six months of redundancy rising from 49 per cent in March 2013 to 59 per cent in December 2013. |