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TL;DR
Singapore recorded 4,800 retrenchments in the third quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly total since late 2020, while employment grew by 27,700. The Ministry of Manpower identifies business reorganisation as the main stated driver; available data does not show AI as the cause of the increase. Graduates face a separate squeeze, with employment rates for recent university graduates lower than a year earlier.
Singapore recorded 4,800 retrenchments in the third quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly count since the end of 2020, according to preliminary Ministry of Manpower figures released October 30. The increase came as total employment grew by 27,700; the ministry said business reorganisation was the main driver of layoffs, while the available data does not establish that artificial intelligence caused the rise.
Retrenchments—Singapore’s term for layoffs—increased from 4,620 in the second quarter and 3,670 in the third quarter of 2025. The last higher quarterly total was 5,640 in the fourth quarter of 2020, during the pandemic. The latest figure is preliminary, with a fuller labour-market report due in mid-December.
About 4,000 of the third-quarter retrenchments were in services, 700 in manufacturing and 100 in construction. The layoff incidence remained at 2.0 per 1,000 employees. MOM said retrenchments remained elevated in selected outward-oriented sectors, including information and communications, financial services and manufacturing, and that business reorganisation continued to be the main driver.
Other indicators point to a labour market with both expansion and pressure. Employment grew more than twice as much as in the previous quarter, and the overall unemployment rate was 2.0% in September. At the same time, the share of firms expecting to retrench rose from 2.8% in August to 3.1% in September. MOM said the combination of higher layoffs and higher layoff intentions points to weaknesses in parts of the labour market that warrant monitoring.
Infographic 01 · The numbers
Singapore's layoffs climb to a near six-year high
Retrenchments have risen in each of the last five quarters while employment kept growing. The official reason is restructuring.
Retrenchments per quarter
Number of employees laid off · selected quarters · rounded to the nearest 10
3Q 2026 by sector
Main driver: business reorganisation · elevated in information and communications, financial services, manufacturing
Mixed signals for the next quarter
Share of firms, August → September 2026
- Expect to hire in the next 3 months30.5% → 42.3%
- Expect to raise wages16.9% → 19.9%
- Expect to retrench2.8% → 3.1%MOM: “emerging weaknesses … that warrant close monitoring”
The economy grew 5.9% year on year in 2Q 2026 (MTI). Rising layoffs in a growing economy point to restructuring rather than a collapse in demand. The 3Q figures are preliminary; the full report follows in mid-December 2026.
Sources: MOM Labour Market Advance Release 3Q 2026, 30 Oct 2026; MOM Labour Market Report 2Q 2026, 21 Sep 2026; MOM Labour Market Report 1Q 2021 (4Q 2020 figure).
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Layoffs Rise as Hiring Continues
The figures matter because a rising layoff count does not, on its own, mean Singapore’s whole labour market is contracting. The quarter combined 4,800 retrenchments with employment growth of 27,700, suggesting that job losses and hiring are occurring at the same time, potentially across different companies, industries and roles.
For workers, the distinction affects how the change should be understood. The available figures describe restructuring-related layoffs, while graduate data points to a tougher route into work. Those are related pressures but not the same event: one concerns people losing existing jobs, and the other concerns new entrants finding fewer or less secure opportunities.
The data also counsels against treating AI as a proven explanation for the quarterly rise. MOM’s figures identify business reorganisation as the main stated reason, and the retrenchment statistics do not have a separate AI category. That leaves room for AI to influence some employers’ decisions, but does not show how much it contributed to these layoffs.
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Restructuring and Graduate Outcomes
Second-quarter data offers more detail about who was affected, though it cannot be assumed to describe the third-quarter group. Of 4,620 workers retrenched in Q2, 3,950 were professionals, managers, executives or technicians—about 85%. Workers under 30 had the lowest layoff rate among age groups, according to the source material. This points to experienced professionals as the larger share of recent layoffs, rather than young workers being the main group dismissed.
Graduate outcomes show a different strain. Among job-seeking graduates from Singapore’s six public universities in 2025, 83.4% found work within six months, down from 87.1% for the previous cohort. The share in full-time permanent jobs fell to 74.4% from 79.4%. For arts, design and media graduates, the reported employment rate was 50%. These figures describe graduate employment outcomes, not layoffs, and do not identify AI as their cause.
Regional evidence adds context but not a direct explanation for Singapore’s results. The International Labour Organization estimates that about 80 million workers in Southeast Asia are in jobs with some exposure to generative AI. It says it has seen no evidence so far of large-scale job losses from the technology. The ILO also reports that youth employment in highly exposed jobs fell faster than overall employment in the Philippines and Thailand.
AI’s Role Is Not Quantified
The preliminary third-quarter release does not break retrenchments down by AI use, and the stated main driver is business reorganisation. A separate MOM survey in April found that 6.2% of firms using AI said they had cut headcount after adopting it. That survey result is not a measure of AI’s contribution to the current quarter’s 4,800 layoffs, and the available material does not give enough detail to establish how many cuts were directly linked to the technology.
The third-quarter figures also do not yet provide the full breakdown by occupation, reason or workers’ subsequent employment outcomes. The second-quarter profile—where PMETs made up about 85% of those retrenched—provides recent context but cannot confirm who was laid off in Q3. It is also unclear how much of the weaker graduate employment rate reflects economic conditions, changes in the types of jobs available, or other factors.
Although employment rose overall, that total does not show whether people who lost jobs found new ones, whether new positions were permanent, or how gains were distributed across sectors. The ministry has warned of emerging weaknesses, but the size and duration of those pressures remain to be seen.
Full Labour Data Due in December
MOM is expected to publish the full third-quarter labour-market report in mid-December 2026. It should provide sector detail and information on re-entry rates, helping clarify where layoffs occurred and what happened to affected workers. The figures may offer a more complete picture, though they will not necessarily identify AI as a cause unless the ministry reports that information separately.
For now, the next indicators to watch are subsequent retrenchment counts, unemployment and hiring intentions, alongside graduate employment results. The government has signalled concern about entry-level opportunities: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has warned that AI could put pressure on the bottom rung of the career ladder, and Minister of State Foo Cexiang has said Singapore must act quickly. The measures under consideration and their expected effects are not specified in the source material.
Key Questions
How many people were retrenched in Singapore in Q3 2026?
The preliminary figure was 4,800, up from 4,620 in Q2 2026 and 3,670 in Q3 2025.
Were the layoffs caused by AI?
The available official figures do not establish that. MOM identified business reorganisation as the main driver and does not report retrenchments in a separate AI category.
Who was most affected by layoffs in the available detailed data?
In Q2 2026, 3,950 of 4,620 retrenched workers were professionals, managers, executives or technicians. That breakdown is for Q2, not the preliminary Q3 total.
Are Singapore’s graduates finding jobs more slowly?
Among job-seeking graduates from the six public universities, 83.4% of the 2025 cohort had work within six months, compared with 87.1% a year earlier. The reported full-time permanent employment share also fell.
When will more detailed layoff figures be available?
MOM is expected to release the full Q3 labour-market report in mid-December 2026, including further sector detail and re-entry rates.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
