Written Answer to PQ on Employed Residents Who Changed Employment Status
NOTICE PAPER NO. 1272 OF 2026 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 9 SEPTEMBER 2026
QUESTION NO. 2025 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
MP: Assoc Prof Kenneth Goh
To ask the Acting Minister for Manpower for each of the past five years, whether the Ministry can provide the number and proportion of local residents who changed employment status (i) from employee to own-account worker or employer and (ii) from own-account worker or employer to employee, with breakdowns by age group, where such data is available.
Answer:
The number and proportion of employed residents who changed employment status from employee to own-account worker or employer, or vice versa, declined overall between 2021 to 2025, as shown in Table 1. This occurred alongside a broader reduction in job switching over the same period.1
2 Tables 2 and 3 provide the corresponding breakdowns by age group for each direction of movement.
Table 1: Number and Proportion2 of Employed Residents Who Changed Employment Status in The Last One Year
|
Year
|
From Employee to Own Account Worker or Employer
|
From Own Account Worker or Employer to Employee
|
|
Number (’000)
|
Proportion (%)
|
Number (’000)
|
Proportion (%)
|
|
2021
|
12.5
|
0.6
|
6.4
|
0.3
|
|
2022
|
12.0
|
0.5
|
8.1
|
0.4
|
|
2023
|
9.7
|
0.4
|
4.2
|
0.2
|
|
2024
|
9.6
|
0.4
|
4.5
|
0.2
|
|
2025
|
9.9
|
0.4
|
3.9
|
0.2
|
Source: Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, Manpower Research and Statistics Department, MOM
Table 2: Number and Proportion3 of Employed Residents Who Changed Employment Status from Employee to Own Account Worker or Employer in The Last One Year by Age
|
Year
|
Number (’000)
|
Proportion (%)
|
|
Below 40
|
40 & Over
|
Below 40
|
40 & Over
|
|
2021
|
8.0
|
4.5
|
0.9
|
0.3
|
|
2022
|
5.7
|
6.3
|
0.7
|
0.4
|
|
2023
|
4.5
|
5.2
|
0.5
|
0.4
|
|
2024
|
5.0
|
4.6
|
0.6
|
0.3
|
|
2025
|
4.7
|
5.2
|
0.6
|
0.3
|
Source: Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, Manpower Research and Statistics Department, MOM
Table 3: Number and Proportion4 of Employed Residents Who Changed Employment Status from Own Account Worker or Employer to Employee in The Last One Year by Age
|
Year
|
Number (’000)
|
Proportion (%)
|
|
Below 40
|
40 & Over
|
Below 40
|
40 & Over
|
|
2021
|
2.7
|
3.7
|
0.3
|
0.3
|
|
2022
|
3.8
|
4.3
|
0.5
|
0.3
|
|
2023
|
2.3
|
2.0
|
0.3
|
0.1
|
|
2024
|
s
|
3.0
|
0.2
|
0.2
|
|
2025
|
2.0
|
s
|
0.2
|
0.1
|
Source: Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, Manpower Research and Statistics Department, MOM
Note: ‘s’ – Data suppressed due to small number of observations.