Resignation Rate among Singaporean Employees in Last Two Years

Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the resignation rate among Singaporean employees in the last two years as compared to before; (b) whether Singapore is seeing a wave of resignations like in other countries; (c) with the rise of remote work, whether the resignation trend will become more prevalent as employees have more choices and less workplace camaraderie to retain them; and (d) which industries are struggling with employee retention and how is the Government helping them.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the Ministry is aware of the trend of rising resignation rates in some other countries and we have been monitoring the local situation.

The resignation rate in Singapore has remained consistently low throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It is down from 1.8% in the third quarter of 2019 to 1.6% in the third quarter of 2021. This figure is also below the pre-COVID-19 quarterly average of 1.8% in 2018 and 2019. This is yet another example of where the Singapore labour market has responded to COVID-19 differently from other economies. We have similarly seen that the employment rates for women and senior workers have not dropped but have held steady or continued to rise. Analysts, observers and commentators interested in labour market issues may want to consider that there are factors that do not allow for a like-for-like comparison with the situation in many other countries.

Nevertheless, as the economy recovers, we expect the resignation rate to go back up as more workers seek out better opportunities. This is to be expected in well-functioning labour markets. We have already observed higher resignation rates in growth sectors such as Financial Services, Professional Services, Information and Communications, and Health and Social Services, where recruitment rates have also increased in tandem.

To help both employers and employees adapt to remote working arrangements, we are working with tripartite partners and the Human Resource (HR) community to promote resources and tools, such as the Institute for Human Resource Professionals' or IHRP's Playbook on Hybrid Workplaces, which guides companies on implementing effective hybrid work arrangements and enhancing employee engagement.

In addition, the IHRP's COVID-19 Taskforce curated several resources to help employers and the HR community navigate the changes and challenges posed by the pandemic. In particular, the People Strategy HR toolkit offers a series of guides on talent attraction, development and retention. Companies and HR professionals are strongly encouraged to take reference from the recommended approaches and best practices to refresh their talent management strategies and reduce staff turnover.