Income Median’s Up in Singapore As More Older and Younger Workers Employed
Singapore has experienced an increase of 4.8% in median income levels of the local full-time working group of individuals. Incomes of local workers were on the rise as of June this year as the country’s economy grows stronger.
The 4.8% increase in income reflects a rise from $4,232 to $4,437 in monthly earnings, including employer contribution to the Central Provident Fund. Unemployment rates also experienced a slight dip as of June this year compared to last year, and the latest data from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) shows a greater share of young and old being employed this year. Evidence that the country’s labor market is on the rise as the economy continues to improve.
Incomes of workers are growing at a much faster rate in the last 5-years compared to the 5-years prior to this. Gross monthly income of residents in full-time jobs grew by 3.5% on average from 2013 to 2018, and this includes preliminary inflation figures being considered this year. The reflected improvements are in line with good economic growth, and the country’s economy is expected to continue to grow by 3% to 3.5% this year.
Full-Time Employees Saw Income Rise On Average by 4.2% A Year
Workers who earned a lower wage also saw a rise in their gross monthly income, which rose at a much faster rate than those at the median. These Singapore residents who find themselves in the 20th percentile of full-time jobs saw their incomes rise on average by 4.2% a year, jumping to $2,340 in 2018 alone.
With more of the younger generation taking on vacation jobs and paid internships, employment rates for those aged between 15 to 24-years this year rose to 35.5%, an increase from last year’s 34.1%. Those aged 65 and over also saw in increase to 26.8% from last year’s 25.8%, thanks to improved employability.
Unemployement Rates for PMETs Improved
For professionals, managers and executives, better known as the PMETs who currently make up 57% of the country’s resident workforce, unemployment rates improved, sitting at 2.9% as of June this year compared to 3% earlier this year. The PMETs who were in the 30-year to 50-year age group and unemployed, took much longer to find jobs.
Non-PMETs saw the rate drop to 4% from 4.5%. Singapore is also experiencing a much larger share of workers who were on contract jobs. For the second consecutive year, workers in permanent jobs was down to 89% this year from 90% last year. MOM explained that this was due to the ongoing economic restructuring, which prompted a lot of companies to adopt a more short-term outlook.
Those who were in the 25 to 64-year age group however, experienced an employment rate drop to 80.3% from 80.7% as more women in their 30s opted out of the labor workforce to care for their families instead. However, economists are not confident that this growth rate can continue into next year, as the growth is expected to moderate.
MOM is working with stakeholders to address the job-skills mismatch situation, and enable more older workers to find jobs as well as help other Singaporeans find good careers. Singapore has an aging population and a slow population growth, which could moderate the growth of supply of resident workers.
