Singapore workers less confident over job security than APAC peers

Only 15% strongly believe their job is safe from elimination.

Only 15% of workers in Singapore strongly agreed that their job is safe from being eliminated, falling below the global average of 22% and the Asia-Pacific average of 18%, according to ADP Research.

In its People at Work 2026 report, ADP Research said Singapore ranked amongst the lower APAC markets for job-security confidence, although it still fared better than Japan at 5%, South Korea at 9%, and Taiwan at 11%.

Across the region, India recorded the highest share of workers who felt secure in their jobs at 30%, followed by Australia at 25%, Thailand at 24%, the Philippines at 23%, China and Indonesia at 20%, New Zealand at 19%, and Vietnam at 18%.

The report found that job insecurity has consequences for both employees and employers. Workers who feared losing their jobs were less engaged, more stressed, less productive, and more likely to look for work elsewhere.

Singapore workers also reported high levels of unpaid work, with 35% saying they work six to 15 unpaid hours per week and 10% saying they work 16 or more unpaid hours weekly.

This means 45% of workers in Singapore put in more than five unpaid hours each week. Singapore’s share of workers doing six to 15 unpaid hours was higher than the Asia-Pacific average of 30%, whilst its share of workers doing 16 or more unpaid hours matched the regional average of 10%.

Meanwhile, Singapore showed relatively strong adoption of generative AI. About 23% of workers in the city-state said they use AI nearly every day, whilst only 8% said they have not tried it.

Despite higher AI use, worker engagement in Singapore remained weak. The share of fully engaged workers stood at 12% in both 2024 and 2025, below the Asia-Pacific average of 15%.

Globally, ADP Research said only 22% of workers strongly agreed that their jobs were safe from elimination, even as unemployment remained low and economic growth stayed steady.

The report was based on ADP Research’s 2025 Global Workforce Survey, which gathered responses from more than 39,000 adult workers in 36 markets between 21 July and 4 August 2025.

Asia-Pacific accounted for 13,136 respondents across markets, including Singapore, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.