A Straits Times article reported that retrenchments in Singapore rose to 3,830 in the first quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly figure since the third quarter of 2023. What caught my attention, beyond the increase itself, was who was being affected.

Degree holders and PMETs saw a notable rise in retrenchments. The report also highlighted what some call a “mobility trap” among mature professionals, where seniority and specialised expertise can make it harder to transition into equivalent opportunities.

That got me thinking.

Then the next quarter’s numbers came in, and the trend didn’t slow down. The Ministry of Manpower’s full labour market report, released in September, put retrenchments at 4,620 in the second quarter of 2026. That is a jump of about 21%, and the highest quarterly figure since the last quarter of 2020. The increase was concentrated in manufacturing, information and communications, and financial services.

To be fair, the broader labour market kept expanding through this. Total employment grew for a 19th consecutive quarter, and unemployment stayed low at 1.9% in June. But that aggregate strength describes whether jobs exist somewhere in the economy. It says nothing about whether the specific role you’ve built your career and income around is easy to replace.

That is a different question. And for senior professionals, it’s the one that matters.

For many senior executives today, the biggest financial risk is no longer market volatility.

It is career volatility.

The Hidden Risk of Success

Imagine two people lose their jobs tomorrow.

One is a 28-year-old manager earning $6,000 a month.

The other is a 52-year-old executive earning $20,000 a month.

Who faces the bigger financial risk?

It is easy to assume the executive is better positioned because they have a higher income and likely more assets.

In reality, the opposite can sometimes be true.

Senior professionals often have larger financial commitments. Mortgages. Children’s education. Aging parents. A lifestyle built around a higher income.

At the same time, replacing a $20,000 monthly salary is usually much harder than replacing a $6,000 one.

The hard part is replacing a highly specialised, highly compensated role.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

The labour market itself can still look healthy.

Many companies are still hiring.

But increasingly, organisations are restructuring, redesigning roles, and adopting technology that changes the nature of work.

The second-quarter numbers show this plainly. The sectors doing the most retrenching were doing well. Manufacturing grew 12.5% that quarter. Information and communications grew 5%. Finance and insurance grew 6.2%. The reason employers gave was business reorganisation.

You can be let go by a company that is doing well, in a sector that is growing, for reasons that have nothing to do with how well you did your job.

In other words, the question is no longer:

“Will I have a job?”

The question is:

“How quickly can I replace my current income if my role disappears?”

That is a very different risk.

And often, it is a risk that is largely outside our control.

The answer to that second question has also been getting worse. Of residents retrenched in the second quarter, 54.9% had found work again within six months, down from 60.7% the quarter before.

The breakdown is the part worth sitting with. Degree holders had the lowest re-entry rate of any educational group, at 49.9%. Slightly more than half were still looking six months on. Production and transport operators, cleaners and labourers had the highest, at 70%.

Seniority and specialised expertise narrow the number of roles you can step into. That is the mobility trap, and the data now puts a number on it.

The Case for a Career Resilience Fund

This is why I believe every working professional should build what I call a Career Resilience Fund.

A Career Resilience Fund is a dedicated pool of assets, separate from your emergency fund, designed to give you options when your career encounters an unexpected disruption.

It buys time.

Time to search for the right role instead of accepting the first offer available.

Time to negotiate from a position of strength.

Time to reskill, pivot industries, start a business, or simply take a break if needed.

Its purpose is to preserve freedom of choice.

Saiful Shahril, a client, on getting clarity and confidence in his career. Filmed in 2018. MTFA, “More Than Financial Advisory”, was our name at finexis for helping clients beyond their finances, including their career capacities.

A Different Way to Measure Financial Security

Many people measure financial security by their income.

I think a better question is:

“If my income stopped tomorrow, how many months of career resilience do I have?”

Three months?

Six months?

Twelve months?

Twenty-four months?

The answer often reveals far more about financial resilience than the size of someone’s paycheck.

Building Towards True Freedom

Over time, the goal is to become less dependent on active income.

To build sufficient assets such that career decisions become choices rather than necessities.

Security means knowing that if you do lose a job, your future remains firmly in your own hands.

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