More large employers in Singapore are planning layoffs, while small businesses keep hiring

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Employment situation in Singapore remains positive, although the job market is showing signs of cooling in yet another report. According to the latest Q3 release by ManpowerGroup Singapore, the Net Employment Outlook index fell to just 13%, which is the lowest reading since 2022.

NEO is measured as a simple difference between the share of companies anticipating an increase in hiring and those which are expecting cuts.

Of course, as ever, these are only averages, and your situation is going to depend not only on specific industry but also the type and size of company you’re either working for or are interested in.

Manufacturing leads the ranking, which is not a surprise given the impact that AI has had on demand for locally made electronics and semiconductors.

Almost all other industries have suffered precipitous drops, however.

While the IT sector is stable and quite strongly positive, it is not immune to layoffs—like the recent round just announced at Shopee.

Meanwhile, Finance & Insurance dipped into negative territory after losing 13 points. It would appear that some of the most lucrative jobs in Singapore might be harder to find this quarter.

It may be compounded by the fact that many of the companies in the sector employ thousands of people.

Yes, you read that right: the NEO score for companies of 5000+ employees and over is negative 26%, after dropping 29 points. Put simply, more large employers are planning workforce reductions than new hires.

This is an alarmingly low reading, especially compared to the global average of a positive 24%.

In fact, all companies employing 50 pax or more are reporting a significant drop in hiring sentiments, although no other group sank into negative territory.

Meanwhile, hiring appears to be booming at the bottom end, with a net positive of 42% for businesses under 10 employees and 34% for those over 10 but under 50. Both have also recorded strong positive swings ahead of Q3, defying the negative sentiments of larger businesses.

This is unlikely to bring comfort to those wary of potential layoffs at the biggest employers, since smaller businesses are rarely able to match the pay and benefits, unless, perhaps, for the lowest-paid roles.

Compared to 2025, Singapore’s employer sentiments have worsened moderately, at -11 points. The worst performer globally is UAE, which shouldn’t be a surprise given the fallout from the war with Iran which has disrupted local business and led to flight of thousands of people, with currently no established date of return to normalcy.

But not all is bad in the world, as UK, US or Sweden are reporting decently positive attitudes (among the developed nations) despite the geopolitical turmoil.

That said, all of them are grappling with much higher unemployment rates than Singapore (currently around 3% for residents), with the US at 4.3%, UK at around 5% and Sweden at a whopping 8.7%. Perhaps this explains why more companies are expecting their headcounts to increase soon, whereas Singapore is quite known for suffering quite persistent shortage of talent.

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singapore’s current affairs here.

Also Read: Degree holders and older workers hit hardest as Singapore retrenchments rise in Q1: MOM

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