Sep 16, 2009
Rise in the chronic jobless
Grads in their 30s and 40s and lowly-educated find it hard to get hired
By Goh Chin Lian
In all, Singapore has 13,900 jobs in the first half. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
SINGAPORE'S job market is stabilising after a wave of layoffs, but two groups continue to struggle to find jobs. They are university graduates in their 30s and 40s, and the lowly-educated in their 40s.
Together, they formed the majority - eight in 10 - in a swelling rank of local residents who were chronically unemployed as of June this year. These are people who, after 25 weeks of job-hunting, failed to find a job or preferred to wait for a better option.
These figures, when coupled with a record low rate of re-employment, send a sobering note of caution when interpreting the stable unemployment rate and fewer layoffs given in a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) report released on Tuesday.
The report provides finalised job market figures for the April to June period, including the first half. In all, Singapore lost 13,900 jobs in the first half. This is 26 per cent fewer than MOM's estimate of 18,800 in July.
Looking ahead, Nanyang Technological University economist Choy Keen Meng sees the job market improving as the economy has been showing initial signs of a recovery in the past three to four months. Unemployment has stabilised, he added.
The latest MOM report shows unemployment stayed at 3.3 per cent as in the previous three months. At the same time, the resident unemployment rate fell from 4.8 per cent to 4.6 per cent.
But the reason for the decline, said MOM, is that many stopped seeking jobs to pursue courses, which means they are no longer counted as unemployed.
Other positive signs of an economic pick-up: Layoffs and premature release from contracts fell by more than half in the second quarter compared to the first three months.
Layoffs fell from 10,900 to 5,170, and early contract release, from 1,860 to 810. Job vacancies, on the other hand, soared 17 per cent to 24,500. Also, for the first time in six quarters, the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed people improved, from 31 to 33 openings for every 100 job-seekers.
Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told reporters during a factory visit on Tuesday that he expects fewer layoffs in the third quarter. But it is not time to celebrate yet, he said. 'The outlook remains uncertain. The labour market is likely to remain weak for the rest of the year,' he said, pointing out that bosses are still cautious about hiring.
Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
chinlian@sph.com.sg
- wong chee tat :)
