Singaporean’s earned less in 2009
Resident workers in Singapore experienced a dip in income as employers turned to part-time and contract workers to take on the jobs of full-timers.
According to The Business Times, a labour force survey released by the Ministry of Manpower revealed that the pay for resident workers had fallen in June this year as compared to a year ago.
In 2009, the median income of all employed Singaporeans and permanent residents fell 1.2% from a year ago to S$2,420 in June this year. Full-timers’ income edged up only 0.5% to S$2,600, it had jumped 11% in 2008 and 7.7% in 2007. Part-timers’ income rose from S$600 from a year ago to S$620 at the same time when these workers expanded their presence in the resident workforce, from 6.8% to 8.4% (156,200 people).
The growth in income from work, said the report, was “largely flat in 2009″ as a result of the weak economy, following strong gains in the preceding two years.
Resident workers on contracts also jumped 4.3% to 197,200 in 2009. This was faster than the 0.8% increase in permanent workers. In fact, the share of resident workers on contract rose from 12.4% in June 2008 to 12.7% in June 2009, extending the uptrend first seen in 2006. This growth was “mainly driven by those of short term contracts of less than three months (including casual or on-call workers), reflecting economic uncertainty”.
Despite the economic downturn, employment rate for older residents between 55 and 64 years of age remained at the record high of 57.2% from last year. “In fact, the rate for older men increased from 73.8% in 2008 to a new high of 74.7% in 2009, offsetting the slight decrease for older women from 40.5% to 40.1%,” said the report.
The employment rate for prime working men between 25 and 54 years old had also declined slightly, from 93% a year ago to 91.6% this year. Regardless, it was noted that the employment rate for these men “remained higher than in many developed and Asian economies”. Overall, the employment rate for residents within this age group declined from the peak of 77% last year to 75.8% this year.
Although the seasonally adjusted resident unemployment rate dipped from 4.8% in March to 4.6% in June this year, it jumped to an estimated 5% in September as more job seekers returned to the workforce as the economy showed signs of recovery.
Source: Sandbox Advisors, Business Times, HRO
