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Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2024

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Introduction

1. Singapore’s labour market performed well in 2024, with the workforce expanding, labour underutilisation remaining low, and both nominal and real incomes rising. The labour market has become more inclusive, with a narrowing of income inequality and rising employment rate for persons with disabilities. Whilst the labour force participation rate remains high, it has declined for the third year in a row due to a rising proportion of seniors. As the workforce continues to get older, ongoing efforts to enhance the employment and employability of senior workers are more important than ever.

 

2. These are key findings from the “Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2024”, an annual release by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).1 The report provides early findings from the Comprehensive Labour Force Survey.

 

Main Findings

Despite a slight decline in the overall labour force participation rate due to population ageing, Singapore maintained one of the highest rates compared to other major cities

3. The labour force participation rate for residents aged 15 and over continued to decrease from 68.6% in 2023 to 68.2% in 2024, despite an increase in participation rates across most age groups. The decline is primarily due to a rising proportion of seniors, who have lower labour force participation rates than younger age groups. However, Singapore’s labour force participation rate for residents aged 15 and over remains higher than that of many other major cities with ageing populations.2

4. Reflecting efforts to raise seniors’ employability, the labour force participation rate of seniors aged 55 and over has risen over the past decade. In addition, Singapore’s labour force participation rate for seniors ranks high compared to other major cities.

5. Over the past decade, Singapore has experienced a significant decline in its elderly support ratio. In 2014, there were 6 residents aged 20 to 64 for every elderly person aged 65 and over.3By 2024, this ratio has almost halved to under 4 residents per elderly person. This trend is expected to continue. If we include foreign workers, the ratio rises to 5. As the workforce ages, it will be necessary to remain open to foreign workers to maintain the support for our ageing population.

Real incomes rebounded from 2023 as nominal income growth strengthened and inflation eased

6. Nominal income4 level increased for both the P20 and median workers (P20: $3,026, P50: $5,500) from 2023 (P20: $2,826, P50: $5,197). As nominal income growth was strong and inflation eased, real incomes grew for both the P20 and median workers in 2024 (P20: 4.6%, P50: 3.4%) after a decline in 2023 (P20: -3.0%, P50: -2.2%). In addition, their real income growth was close to the average growth rates in the years preceding COVID-19 (2014-2019: 4.4% p.a. for P20, 3.8% p.a. for P50) when inflation was lower.

7. Income growth was also inclusive, with P20 income growing faster than the median. As a result, the P20 to P50 income ratio improved to 0.55 in 2024, from 0.54 in 2023 and 2019, and 0.52 in 2014. Greater increases in P20 income are expected in the coming years, as increases in nominal wage requirements negotiated by tripartite partners under the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) are gradually implemented.5

Job switchers who changed industries typically received higher income

8. Majority (59.3%) of workers who transitioned to different industries saw income increases.6 Over the year, there was also an increased share of workers in more productive sectors such as Financial & Insurance Services and Information & Communications. 

Employment rate of persons with disabilities increased

9. The employment rate of persons with disabilities aged 15 to 64 has risen steadily to 33.6% in 2024, from previous years (2023: 32.7%, 2019: 28.2%).7 This increase reflects more support for employers to hire and train persons with disabilities, with the aim of raising their employment rate to 40% by 2030.

Unemployment rate stayed low across occupational groups

10. The unemployment rate (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs): 2.7%, non-PMETs: 3.4%) and long-term unemployment rate (PMETs: 0.7%, non-PMETs: 0.5%) remained low and within historical range.8

Labour underutilisation remained low

11. The number and incidence of discouraged workers9 declined further to 7,400 or 0.3% of the resident labour force in 2024, from 9,100 or 0.4% in 2023. The time-related under-employment rate10 maintained at a low rate of 2.3%.

Conclusion

12. The slowing resident population growth and ageing of our population will lead to tightening manpower constraints in the medium term. We will continue to support career transitions into jobs and sectors that are more productive and higher-paying. At the same time, we need to remain open to foreign workers and foreign direct investments to continue to generate good job opportunities for Singaporeans.

13. Investing in Singaporeans remains the top priority of the Government, and we call on employers and workers to make full use of available programmes to enhance their competitiveness. We encourage workers to take charge of their career health by continuing to upskill, reskill, and be open to new opportunities. We also encourage employers to continue improving workplace practices to attract and retain a wider talent pool, including seniors.  

a. Employers can tap on Workforce Singapore (WSG)’s Career Conversion Programmes, which allow workers to undergo industry-recognised training with up to 90% salary support. In addition, the Mid-Career Pathways Programme provides attachment opportunities to mature workers, allowing them to gain industry-relevant experience while receiving a training allowance of up to $3,800 per month. Local workers who require additional assistance can tap on career coaching and guidance services offered by WSG as well as NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute.

b. Employers can refer to the Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs) to understand how their businesses and job demands may change in response to sectoral trends. A total of 17 JTMs are available on Workforce Singapore’s (WSG’s) website, identifying the key technologies that are driving change and their impact on individual job roles. With this information, employers can pre-emptively redesign job and reskill workers for jobs of the future. To make their jobs more productive and attractive to workers, employers can tap on the Support for Job Redesign under Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG-JR) to transform these jobs.

c. Flexible work arrangements such as flexi-hours and telecommuting can support workers who may otherwise not be able to work due to personal reasons such as caregiving. The Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests, which will be implemented from 1 December 2024, will further promote the adoption of flexible work arrangements. The new Workplace Fairness Legislation will also strengthen protections against discrimination and shape positive workplace norms to better attract and retain talent from a multi-generational and diverse workforce.  

For More Information

14. The full report is available online on the website of the Ministry of Manpower’s Manpower Research and Statistics Department at http://stats.mom.gov.sg.

FOOTNOTE

  1. The data pertain to the resident population for the period of June each year, comprising Singapore citizens and permanent residents. The final report of the Labour Force in Singapore 2024 will be released in January 2025. Data for previous editions of the Labour Force in Singapore are available online on the Ministry of Manpower’s Research and Statistics Department website at https://stats.mom.gov.sg. Details on the survey methodology as well as the concepts and definitions are in the “Factsheet on Comprehensive Labour Force Survey” appended with this press release.
  2. Singapore’s labour force participation rate of residents aged 15 years and over in 2024 was higher than in cities such as Tokyo (Japan), Helsinki (Finland), Berlin (Germany), and Hong Kong (China).
  3. The old-age support ratio provides a rough indication of the number of persons who are potentially economically and socially supporting elderly people.
  4. Income refers to gross monthly income from employment, including employer CPF contributions, of full-time employed residents.
  5. From 2022 to 2028, nominal PWM wage requirements (excluding employer CPF) will increase by up to 10.8% per year.
  6. Based on full-time resident employees aged 25 to 64.
  7. Based on two-year moving averages, i.e. average for 2023 and 2024 compared with average for 2022 and 2023, and 2018 and 2019.
  8. The PMET and non-PMET unemployment and long-term unemployment rates are non-seasonally adjusted figures and refer to June periods. They should not be analysed alongside the monthly unemployment rates which are adjusted for seasonality to facilitate monthly analysis.
  9. This refers to persons outside the labour force who are not actively looking for a job because they believe their job search would not yield results. Reasons cited for being discouraged include the belief that there is no suitable work available, employers’ discrimination, and lack of necessary qualifications, training, skills or experience.
  10. This is defined as the percentage of persons aged 15 years and over who normally work less than 35 hours a week (i.e. part-timers) but are willing and available to engage in additional work, to employed persons.