The Ministry of Manpower published its Singapore Labour Market Q1 2026 report on 30 May 2026, providing the most current picture of employment conditions, wage trends, and foreign workforce flows in Singapore. For employers making hiring decisions — particularly those considering Employment Pass or S Pass applications — the Q1 2026 data provides essential context for workforce planning and COMPASS scoring.

This article summarises the key findings of the MOM Q1 2026 Labour Market Report and draws out their practical implications for companies hiring foreign professionals in Singapore.

Headline Figures: Singapore Labour Market Q1 2026

The overall Singapore labour market remained tight in Q1 2026, with unemployment continuing at levels broadly consistent with full employment. Key headline figures from the MOM report include:

  • Overall unemployment rate: 1.9% (seasonally adjusted), holding steady from Q4 2025. This continues Singapore’s near-full employment conditions that have persisted through 2024–2025.
  • Resident unemployment rate: 2.9%, similarly stable. The resident rate captures Singapore citizens and PRs specifically — the metric most relevant to COMPASS’s local workforce ratio assessment.
  • Citizen unemployment rate: 3.1%, which MOM notes remains within a low range consistent with frictional unemployment.
  • Employment growth: approximately 27,400 net jobs added in Q1 2026 across all sectors, with professional services, information and communications, and financial services contributing the largest gains.
  • Long-term unemployment (unemployed for 25 weeks or more) remained at approximately 0.7% of the labour force — well within historically low bounds.

These figures reinforce the operating environment for employers: Singapore’s domestic labour pool is effectively fully employed, which both justifies demand for foreign talent and supports MOM’s expectation that employers actively attempt local hiring before turning to work pass applications.

Sectoral Employment Trends

Q1 2026 employment growth was uneven across sectors, with some industries adding headcount significantly and others contracting or remaining flat.

Professional Services and Technology

Professional, scientific, and technical services continued to be the strongest sector for net employment growth, adding an estimated 8,200 jobs in Q1 2026. Information and communications (ICT) added approximately 4,600 jobs, continuing a multi-year trend driven by digital transformation demand across financial services and government. These sectors also represent the highest concentration of Employment Pass holders, given the premium on specialised technical skills not readily available in the local market.

Financial Services

Financial services added approximately 3,500 jobs in Q1 2026, with growth concentrated in risk management, compliance, and asset management roles. MOM’s report notes that financial services has maintained consistently low vacancy-to-employment ratios for professional-level roles, indicating that most open positions in this sector are being filled — whether by local or foreign hires — without extended vacancies.

Construction and Manufacturing

Construction added approximately 4,100 jobs, primarily through Work Permit category hiring for project-based roles. Manufacturing employment was broadly flat in Q1 2026 (+1,200 net), with semiconductor and precision engineering subsectors gaining while petrochemical refining contracted modestly. These sectors are less relevant to Employment Pass planning but are significant for understanding the overall Work Permit dependency patterns that inform MOM’s aggregate foreign workforce policy.

Retail and Food and Beverage

Retail employment declined by approximately 1,400 jobs in Q1 2026 as automation and online channel shift continued. Food and beverage employment contracted by 900 jobs. Both sectors continue to rely heavily on Work Permit and S Pass holders for operational roles, and the contraction in headcount reflects a combination of digital substitution and normalising post-pandemic levels rather than structural demand collapse.

Job Vacancies and Vacancy-to-Unemployed Ratio

As of the end of Q1 2026, MOM reported approximately 78,800 job vacancies across the Singapore economy — a slight moderation from the 82,000 vacancies recorded at end-Q4 2025, but still historically elevated. The vacancy-to-unemployed ratio stood at approximately 1.73, meaning there were nearly twice as many job openings as there were unemployed residents seeking work.

This ratio is a critical indicator for Employment Pass applications assessed under the COMPASS framework. A high vacancy-to-unemployed ratio across the economy generally supports the case that resident labour cannot fill available positions — which in turn supports the legitimate need to hire foreign professionals. However, COMPASS scoring is sector- and occupation-specific, so employers should not rely on the economy-wide vacancy ratio as a substitute for demonstrating effort to hire locally within their specific industry.

Retrenchments in Q1 2026

MOM reported approximately 3,950 retrenchments in Q1 2026 — a modest increase from 3,120 in Q4 2025, though still well below the elevated retrenchment levels seen in 2020 and early 2023. Retrenchments were concentrated in:

  • Wholesale trade (significant given continued restructuring away from traditional distribution models)
  • Manufacturing (petrochemical subsector consolidation)
  • Administrative and support services (back-office automation)

For employers in sectors with active retrenchments, MOM’s Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) Watch List criteria become particularly relevant. Employers in industries where locals have been retrenched should expect closer scrutiny of EP applications, as MOM’s FCF guidelines require employers to demonstrate that retrenched locals were given opportunity to apply for available positions before foreign hires were brought in.

Our MOM HR Compliance Calendar 2026 sets out key FCF obligations and timelines for Singapore employers.

Wages: Median and Growth

MOM’s Q1 2026 report includes updated nominal wage figures. Median gross monthly wage across all occupations in Singapore (full-time employed residents) rose to approximately SGD 5,280 in Q1 2026, representing year-on-year growth of approximately 4.1% in nominal terms and approximately 1.8% in real (inflation-adjusted) terms.

For Employment Pass applicants, wage benchmarks directly affect COMPASS scoring. The COMPASS system compares an applicant’s fixed monthly salary against the median salary for their specific occupation, as published in MOM’s occupation-level salary benchmarks (updated annually). Employers should note:

  • The EP minimum qualifying salary as of 1 January 2026 is SGD 5,600 per month for most sectors (SGD 6,200 for financial services).
  • COMPASS salary benchmarking uses the 50th and 90th percentile salaries for specific occupational groups — not the economy-wide median. An EP applicant paid at or above the 90th percentile for their occupation scores the maximum on the salary criterion.
  • With nominal median wages rising 4.1% year-on-year, employers who set EP salaries close to the minimum qualifying threshold should review whether the offered salary still meets the minimum and whether it adequately scores on the COMPASS salary criterion given the updated benchmarks.

For a full guide to current EP salary thresholds and COMPASS scoring, see our Singapore Employment Pass Guide 2026.

Foreign Workforce Flows: EP and S Pass in Q1 2026

MOM’s Q1 2026 report provides updated figures on the foreign workforce on employment passes:

  • Employment Pass holders: approximately 196,200 as of end-March 2026, up from approximately 192,800 at end-December 2025. The quarterly increase of 3,400 reflects continued demand for mid-to-senior professional talent across technology, finance, and professional services.
  • S Pass holders: approximately 176,400 as of end-March 2026, broadly flat from end-2025. The S Pass population’s stability reflects the impact of progressively tightening S Pass quotas, particularly in services sectors where the quota ratio has been reduced over successive budget cycles.
  • Work Permit holders: approximately 1,065,000, up modestly due to construction project activity. This segment is less directly relevant to professional hiring decisions but forms the base of Singapore’s total foreign workforce dependency ratio.

The EP population growth of 1.8% in a single quarter suggests that COMPASS approvals have been sufficient to accommodate genuine demand. MOM has not signalled further tightening of EP qualifying criteria in 2026, though COMPASS is due for its first formal review later this year.

What Q1 2026 Data Means for Your Hiring Strategy

For employers making foreign hiring decisions in 2026, the Q1 Labour Market Report points to several practical conclusions:

  1. The tight resident labour market supports EP applications — but requires documented local hiring effort. With resident unemployment at 2.9% and nearly 79,000 vacancies, MOM understands that many specialist roles cannot be filled locally. But the FCF’s Jobseekers portal advertising requirements remain mandatory for all EP applications, regardless of market conditions.
  2. Salary benchmarks must be reviewed against updated 2026 figures. Q1 2026 median wage growth of 4.1% means that EP salaries set against 2024 benchmarks may now fall into lower COMPASS salary-criterion bands. For roles where COMPASS scoring is marginal, a modest salary uplift can move an application from yellow to green.
  3. S Pass planning needs quota headroom assessment. With the S Pass population flat and quotas tightening, employers in manufacturing, retail, and food and beverage need to confirm available S Pass quota before extending offers to S Pass-level candidates. Hiring on the assumption of available quota — then discovering the quota is exhausted — creates significant disruption.
  4. Retrenchments in your sector raise FCF scrutiny. If your industry appears in MOM’s retrenchment data for Q1 2026, expect FCF-level scrutiny on EP applications. Maintain hiring records that demonstrate genuine local hiring outreach.

The SWDA — the new Skills and Workforce Development Agency that merged SSG and WSG from 1 July 2026 — now consolidates the training subsidy, reskilling, and career support programmes that previously sat across two agencies. Employers looking to address local skills gaps rather than rely exclusively on EP hiring should engage SWDA for sector-specific upskilling support.

Get Support with EP and S Pass Applications

Singapore Employment Agency is the consumer brand of Little Big Employment Agency Pte Ltd (MOM Licence 19C9790). We advise employers on Employment Pass and S Pass applications, COMPASS scoring, and FCF compliance. For payroll benchmarking, corporate secretarial, and broader HR policy support, our sister brand Raffles Corporate Services provides integrated employer services.

— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency

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