Singapore’s stable resignation rate is a key sign that the country is doing all the right things to keep workers satisfied.
By Zee Johnson
The Great Resignation has been felt in almost every sector globally. Luckily for Singapore, the country has yet to receive the brunt of mass job hopping like many their competitor markets.
According to statistics from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Singapore’s resignation rates have remained stable throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the third quarter of 2021, the resignation rate stayed at 1.6%, a number below the pre-COVID rate. In fact, between 2018 and 2019, the average quarterly rate was 1.8%.
“Reports of high resignation rates across the United States and Europe have led to speculation that Singapore could see a similar ‘Great Resignation’ wave. However, our statistics show otherwise,” a post on MOM’s official Facebook said back in January. “Resignation rates in Singapore have remained consistently low throughout the pandemic.”
Part of this ability for workers to stay put has been attributed to the country’s successful remote work models. MOM revealed that in 2020, nearly half of Singapore’s working population worked remotely. From this, another MOM survey found that 98.5 percent of professionals, managers, executives and technicians stayed in their current employment.
A second reason many believe Singaporeans are staying with their employers is due to the country’s salary incentives which are increasing in comparison to other countries whose salaries remain stagnant. The average income in Singapore is expected to increase between 3.5% and 3.9% this year. And according to Singapore’s Manpower Research and Statistics Department, the average median income for workers has increased 0.9%.
But more than salary, leaders have had a heavy focus on well-being, too. A recent Oracle survey found that 77% of people felt their companies were more concerned with their mental health now than before the pandemic. In fact, to drive a well-being centred culture, The Ministry of State for Defence and Manpower of Singapore also announced support for companies that have made progress in their mental well-being journey and have highlighted them as employers of choice.
MOM officials believe that the pandemic opened up leaders’ eyes, forcing them to better support and retain their staff.
“In fact, COVID-19 has transformed workplace practices and revealed more about what may influence an employee’s decision to leave, such as demand for workplace flexibility, the blurring of work-life boundaries, risk of burnout and work disengagement,” the Facebook post said.
