MTI data reveals nearly 20,000 job losses across key Singapore sectors in 2025

Singapore’s labour market, as reflected in the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s (MTI) Q3 2025 Economic Survey, continues to show a mix of strength and strain. On the surface, the numbers look reassuring: unemployment remains low at 2% overall, with citizens and PRs staying below the 3% mark. But a closer look at the data paints a more uneven picture across industries, with some sectors expanding steadily while others undergo noticeable contraction.

Between January and September 2025, Singapore created close to 50,000 jobs—an outcome driven by broad economic activity and persistent demand in several pockets of the market. However, MTI’s breakdown also highlights that seven industries collectively shed nearly 19,800 roles this year. Many of these losses sit in roles typically filled by local PMETs, raising concerns about how industries are shifting their skills mix.

The Information & Communications sector stands out for all the wrong reasons. Despite earlier optimism around pay growth and digital talent demand, the sector lost more than 4,000 jobs this year alone, adding to almost 10,000 roles removed over the past two years. Market watchers point to a rebalancing in tech teams as companies trim certain functions while intensifying their hunt for specialised talent in AI, data engineering and advanced computing.

Professional services, real estate and trade-linked sectors have also seen net declines. Real estate, in particular, continues to absorb the ripple effects of cooling measures, with hiring remaining slow.

On the other end of the spectrum, much of the job growth came from construction and domestic work—areas supported heavily by migrant labour. Finance & Insurance emerged as the one high-value industry bucking the broader softening, creating more than 10,000 new roles and helping to stabilise overall employment numbers.

Taken together, MTI’s data points to a labour market in transition—steady at headline level, but undergoing deeper shifts as industries restructure and skill demands evolve rapidly.