SINGAPORE — A total of 7,710 workers were laid off in the first three quarters of last year, about 500 more than in the same period in the year before, said the Labour Movement today (Jan 15), citing past figures from the Manpower Ministry.

The Labour Movement noted that this was due to more workers being laid off from the services sector.

For the unionised sectors, 2,212 workers lost their jobs last year — 27 per cent lower than in 2013. Two-thirds of them came from the manufacturing sector.

Reasons for retrenchment include high cost, poor business and ongoing restructuring, which resulted in eight companies relocating their operations out of Singapore, to countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and China.

The Labour Movement expects about 300 workers from the chemical and electronics sectors to be retrenched in the first quarter of this year.

Unionised workers saw a wage increase of about 4.1 per cent last year, lower than 4.63 per cent recorded in 2013. They will also receive an average three months of bonus in 2014, down from 3.16 months in the year before.

About 60 per cent of unionised companies paid at least S$60 built-in wage increases to workers earning S$1,000 and below. Companies that failed to do so cited poor business and restructuring as reasons.

In 2014, the number of workers on a shorter work week plunged from close to 5,793 to 1323. The Labour Movement attributed this to a lack of orders and a slowdown in business. The majority were from companies producing semiconductor and electronic products and components.