Almost 3 in 5 S’pore employers plan to cease hiring in 2026

In an more and more unstable enterprise surroundings, extra employers are planning to freeze hiring and reasonable wages in 2026, a survey by the Singapore Nationwide Employers Federation (SNEF) confirmed on Tuesday (Dec 2).

Out of 240 corporations polled, nearly three in 5 (58%) stated they plan to freeze hiring in 2026—up from 50% in 2024. Smaller employers had been much more cautious, with 63% indicating they’re more likely to halt new hires.

However, round 8% of employers plan to cut back headcount, which has similarities to 2024’s 9%. Of this, 12% of bigger employers usually tend to scale back their headcount. Solely a 3rd of respondents plan to extend hiring.

These hiring selections come as enterprise sentiment weakens, with 72% of employers reporting unsure prospects this 12 months—a pointy rise from 58% in 2024.

Near 50% plan to train wage moderation or a wage freeze

Near half of the employers (48%) additionally plan to implement wage moderation or a wage freeze for FY2025/2026, a rise of 10% from the final monetary 12 months. Many indicated that they anticipate to grant smaller wage increments in comparison with final 12 months.

“This means extra warning in wage outlook amongst employers, notably amongst small and medium-sized employers,” the federation added.

Most of those corporations (79%) cited rising manpower prices as a key problem, roughly consistent with 2024’s 81%. As well as, 47% employers highlighted difficulties in attracting and retaining professionals, managers, engineers, and technicians, whereas 42% indicated a scarcity of high-skilled expertise.

To deal with these obstacles, 62% of employers plan to supply a aggressive wage and advantages package deal. One other technique of assuaging manpower challenges is upskilling/reskilling staff to satisfy evolving enterprise wants, with 45% employers doing so.

A smaller proportion of employers (30%) are additionally keen to supply extra versatile working preparations.

Companies are sustaining help for lower-wage staff

Regardless of the cautious outlook, SNEF highlighted that 96% of employers using decrease wage staff deliberate to supply them with built-in wage will increase within the coming 12 months, “reflecting continued employer dedication to uplift this personnel.”

Almost 40% of employers meant to offer proportionally greater increments to lower-wage staff than to different staff, whereas 33% deliberate comparable increments for all staff. The rest indicated that different components, similar to efficiency, can be extra essential than a differentiated wage improve based mostly on wage ranges.

“It’s heartening to see that many employers proceed to spend money on their individuals, particularly lower-wage staff, as such investments in the end assist them construct a stronger, extra resilient, and future-ready workforce that may assist companies seize new alternatives in unsure occasions,” stated Hao Shuo, Chief Government Officer of SNEF. 

Employers had been additionally inspired to align their wage selections with the lately launched Nationwide Wages Council Tips, “in order that wage changes are truthful and sustainable,” Hao added.

• Learn different articles we’ve written on Singapore’s job market right here.

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