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Lower-wage workers have been particularly affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those who do not hold professional, managerial, executive and technical positions (PMET) constituted 49.2 percent of the premises that were laid off in the second quarter of the year, according to the latest data released yesterday by the Ministry of Manpower ( MOM) in their Market report work.
This was a 36.1 percent increase in the first quarter.
Non-PMETs accounted for 41.7 percent of all locals, referring to Singaporeans and permanent residents, in jobs last year, while PMETs accounted for 58.3 percent.
The situation is a marked change from the trend before Covid-19, in which PMETs accounted for a disproportionately large proportion of locals who were laid off. For example, in the fourth quarter of last year, 73.8 percent of laid-off locals were in PMET jobs.
The proportion of young workers under 40 among locals laid off also grew to 35.3 percent in the second quarter, up from 27.3 percent in the previous quarter.
DBS Bank Senior Economist Irvin Seah said the impact on non-PMETs could be because frontline workers have been badly affected by the crisis.
“Layoffs have now been skewed against less-skilled workers,” he said.
“The nature of the pandemic has been to significantly affect frontline jobs, which are also the ones that require the lowest compensation.”
Seah said this is in line with the bank’s findings in a recent survey report, which says that low-income workers – those who earn less than $ 3,000 a month – account for nearly half of customers who have experienced a drop. in wages. Within this group, 51 percent saw their income fall by more than half.
Maybank Kim Eng Senior Economist Chua Hak Bin also noted that concert workers, many of whom were severely impacted by current border controls and circuit breaker restrictions and social distancing rules, likely represent a fair share of the non-PMET and the younger ones.
“The extension of the Income Relief Plan for the Self Employed, albeit in a specific and conical form, will help protect workers in this recession,” he said.
Seah added that when it comes to younger people, employers may now be considering factors like lack of experience, in addition to compensation packages.
Yesterday’s labor market report also showed layoffs and unemployment increased in the second quarter.
A total of 78,800 citizens and 10,900 PR were unemployed as of June. Most of them had recently joined the unemployed group.
Meanwhile, the number of long-term unemployed locals fell between March and June. Refers to unemployed people who were out of work for at least 25 weeks.
But it is becoming increasingly difficult for laid-off people to find new jobs quickly. The proportion of locals laid off in the fourth quarter of last year who found a new job in six months fell to a record low of 58.4 percent in the second quarter.
The proportion was lower among PMET than among non-PMET.
Time-related underemployment increased among locals as more part-time workers were willing and available to work additional hours, MOM said in the report.
Additionally, as a result of fewer overtime hours, the average total weekly paid hours worked per employee fell by one hour between March and June to 43.4 hours, the largest quarterly drop on record.
MOM said it will start publishing unemployment rates monthly, rather than quarterly. In this way, you can detect changes in the work situation more quickly. It had started collecting unemployment data on a monthly basis since April.
The data will be available online and in employment status reports.
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