The situation is less gloomy than some would have you believe.
Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, any opinions expressed below belong solely to the author. Findings sourced from the latest ManpowerGroup report for Q1 of 2026.
Some of the recent news reports may have you believe that the employment situation in Singapore is dire. The reality is likely more positive, though, and we can surmise as much from the very same sources cited by the mainstream news outlets.
Source: The Business Times
Quite a few have repeated the story of how ManpowerGroup’s latest report shows Net Employment Outlook falling to its lowest level in four years, at just 15%.
And it is true, but you have to bear in mind that back in 2022, the country was still battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subsequent years saw an unprecedented surge in hiring when companies started bringing back people as the world reopened for business. It would be unfair to compare 2026, when the economy is at full employment, to the years when it was bouncing back from the worst global health crisis in a century.
What is NEO anyway?
The figure is just a simple measure of the difference between companies expressing an intent to grow their headcounts in the next three months and those that are planning cuts. Although somewhat imperfect, the resulting figure points to either hiring expansion or contraction in the next quarter.
Figures may not add up due to rounding./ Image Credit: ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, Q1 2026
As you can see in the chart below, the current figure may seem quite low compared to the post-pandemic years, but it is actually still above the figures recorded up to 2020.
Image Credit: ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, Q1 2026
Employment opportunities
What’s more, the broad average doesn’t really say much about how well or poorly companies in different industries are doing. This is important information for job seekers, most of whom can’t simply jump between unrelated sectors of the economy.
Image Credit: ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, Q1 2026
More employers are seeking to hire than fire is no guarantee of finding a job (or not losing one), even as close to one-third of them are planning to increase their staffing.
So, where are most of those jobs coming from? Here’s the breakdown by industry:
*Tech & IT Services is a specialty sector that combines subsectors across Manufacturing, Information, and Professional Services to provide a holistic view of all aspects relating to IT and telecoms./ Source: ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, Q1 2026
Like in the previous quarter, Hospitality continues to rank at the very top, though it’s still the industry that hasn’t yet entirely bounced back from the pandemic. It is also likely that it has the highest demand for lower-paid immigrant labour, much like Construction.
The good news is that strong hiring in the first quarter of 2026 is also expected in some of the best-paid businesses in Finance & Insurance, as well as the Information and IT sectors. It does look like there should be good opportunities available to qualified Singaporeans across the entire economy.
Image Credit: ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, Q1 2026
To improve your chances further, you may want to send your CV to mid-sized and larger companies, as the smaller ones may have fewer options, with SMEs employing between 10 and 49 people being most vulnerable to cuts or hiring freezes.
With the economy having grown by over 4% this year and a decent, if cautious, forecast of 2.3% for 2026 Singapore’s job market should continue to expand with it, and the only risk on the horizon is the unpredictable future of the growing AI bubble, the burst of which could change everything.
The only thing we can do about it, however, is hope that it doesn’t happen.
Read more stories we’ve written on the latest job trends here.
Also Read: GDP is growing—so why does it feel like there are “no jobs everywhere” in Singapore?
Featured Image Credit: efired/ depositphoto
