Lights Flicker: Singapore Retrenchments Hit Pandemic Highs as Capital Pivots Home

Singapore retrenchments spiked to 4,620 in Q2 2026, the highest since Q4 2020, as the Ministry of Manpower flagged clear "signs of softening" in a market that had seemed unshakable. The retrenchment incidence jumped to 2.0 per 1,000 employees from 1.6 in Q1, concentrated in outward-oriented sectors — manufacturing, ICT, and financial services — where restructuring exercises are biting hardest.

Re-Employment Slows, Vacancies Slide

The uncomfortable...