Manufacturing jobs down by almost 7,000 in Q1 on back of oil downcycle

Many workers were temporarily laid off.

Manufacturing employment fell by 6,900 in the first quarter, a report by the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) revealed today.

The decline was on back of weak output growth in marine & offshore engineering and the completion of chemical
maintenance projects. Manufacturing output in the marine & offshore engineering segment declined by 6.9% over the year in the first quarter of 2015.

Manufacturing employment shrank by 6.9% quarter-on-quarter. Although layoffs in the sector declined, it still accounted for 27% of all layoffs in the republic.

Workers from this sector also made up a staggering 49% of employees who were placed on short work-week or temporary layoff in the first quarter.