Disclaimer: Except in any other case said, any opinions expressed under belong solely to the writer. Knowledge sourced from the Singapore Division of Statistics and the Financial Improvement Board.
2026 is upon us already, so it is sensible to try what the approaching 12 months is promising to deliver to the Singaporean economic system, together with jobs and salaries.
Between Sept and Oct, EDB and the Singapore Division of Statistics carried out their quarterly surveys of enterprise expectations within the manufacturing and providers sectors, respectively, asking them, i.a., about their predictions for the interval till Mar 2026.
Listed below are their findings.
Darkish clouds over factories?
With 23% of native manufacturing corporations reporting optimistic enterprise outlook in comparison with 15% expressing pessimism (with the remainder anticipating enterprise as standard), the web weighted common for the sector is a constructive 8%.
Nonetheless, issues are somewhat totally different whenever you take a look at particular industries.
Whereas 4 out of the six broad classes count on development, there appears to be a major slowdown in precision engineering, significantly in Equipment & Techniques.
What’s extra, even Electronics, primarily pushed by the surge in demand for semiconductors, and companies in Laptop Peripherals & Knowledge Storage are all bracing for headwinds. The truth is, not a single firm there expects the approaching months to be higher.
It’s an analogous story with Transport Engineering, whose optimism is pushed by the robust Aerospace sector, far outweighing the damaging outlook of corporations in Land transportation.
The turbulent state of affairs in a few of these industries is, after all, attributable to a mix of uncertainty attributable to tariffs and the AI increase, which is each a boon for some and a threat, in case the bubble quickly deflates, leaving know-how corporations scrambling for one thing else to do as a substitute.
Sunny skies for many providers
Happily, the state of affairs seems to be higher within the providers sector, which accounts for 3/4 of all resident employment in Singapore.
Following the scare of recession after Trump’s tariff coverage shook the world, the feelings have rebounded to comparable ranges as earlier than the brand new US president took workplace.
Gloomy situations haven’t materialised, and the Singapore economic system really posted a stellar GDP development this 12 months, rising by over 4% (with ultimate information coming early subsequent 12 months).
Because of this, excluding two industries, all others predict development in early 2026, mainly in commerce, tourism, and recreation, in addition to IT.
The 2 outliers are Actual Property and Transportation & Storage. The previous is experiencing each home and exterior pressures, because the overheated native market has seen a authorities clampdown in recent times whereas grappling with the exact same uncertainty the brand new US administration has precipitated elsewhere, dampening buyers’ moods.
As native authorities are attempting to rein within the worth inflation and discourage speculative purchases, attempting to guard each the private and non-private property markets, there’s merely much less enterprise for corporations within the property sector, with no finish to restrictions in sight.
In the meantime, companies in logistics—particularly in water transportation—are dealing with more durable competitors amid an oversupply of vessels, which is affecting freight charges.
The temporary pandemic bonanza, when many skilled a surge in demand and earnings, seems to be over, and the business is now attempting to determine the place the brand new regular lies.
Even when the economic system as an entire retains rising in 2026, these points could influence each employment and salaries within the affected sectors. And whereas on common Singaporeans can hope for a pay bump of between 3 to six%, bringing the nationwide median to S$6000 per thirty days, your particular person state of affairs could differ significantly relying on what you do.
- Learn different articles we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.
Featured Picture Credit score: peerapat/ depositphotos
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