Chart of the Day: Job vacancy to unemployed ratio fell below 1.0 in 2019

The labour scene was already weakening even before the pandemic struck.

This chart from UOB showed that the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed individuals fell below 1.0 in 2019, the first time since 2017. This suggests that there had been more job seekers than vacancies and that Singapore’s labour market was already softening prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In particular, job creation in the trade-related sector was weak in Q4 2019, and a “modest degree of labour market slack had emerged at the end of last year.”

The latest figures from the Ministry of Manpower posted that total employment fell 19,900 QoQ in Q1. It was only cushioned by the jobs and wage support measures announced in the Budgets.

UOB is now expecting the unemployment rate to widen to 3.5% in 2020 should the COVID-19 pandemic be more severe and protracted than anticipated.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia