Employment Situation in year 2010

• Local employment grew by 54,200 in 2010, exceeding the 41,800 gains in 2009. With the strong economic recovery and higher demand for manpower, foreign employment increased by 58,300 in 2010, after declining by 4,200 in 2009. Excluding foreign domestic workers, foreign employment rose by 53,000 in 2010.
• As at December 2010, there were 1,990,700 locals forming 64.2% of the 3,102,500 persons employed in Singapore. The remaining 35.8% or 1,111,800 were foreigners. Excluding foreign domestic workers, the foreigners’ share of employment was 31.4% in December 2010, up from 30.7% in December 2009
• For the whole of 2010, total employment increased by 112,500, significantly exceeding the gains of 37,600 in 2009. The bulk of the employment gains came from services, which added 109,500 workers in 2010, up from the increase of 55,600 in 2009. Construction employment, which rose by 25,100 in 2009, saw modest gains of 2,300 in 2010, due to completion of several large building projects and fewer projects coming on stream. While manufacturing employment declined by 2,700, this was much lower than the losses of 43,700 in 2009.