{"id":619565,"date":"2026-04-20T17:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/619565\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T17:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:11:08","slug":"singapore-firms-hit-by-rising-energy-costs-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/619565\/","title":{"rendered":"Singapore firms hit by rising energy costs: Poll"},"content":{"rendered":"

SINGAPORE \u2013 Most bosses here are facing mounting cost pressures due to an energy shock triggered by the Iran war<\/a>, with some businesses starting to freeze hiring and trim benefits, according to a recent poll. <\/p>\n

Conducted by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), the snap poll found that 96 per cent of the employers polled are facing higher operating costs, with energy prices driving up utilities, fuel, materials and freight costs. <\/p>\n

Almost one in five, or 19 per cent, of them reported significant cost increases exceeding 25 per cent. <\/p>\n

Another 41 per cent reported a moderate hike of 11 per cent to 25 per cent, while the rest reported a small hike of 1 per cent to 10 per cent. <\/p>\n

More than half of the respondents also flagged manpower costs as a key concern. <\/p>\n

With the spike in utilities and fuel expenses, businesses here have to grapple with higher costs for raw materials, supplies and logistics. <\/p>\n

As the market adjusts to the more expensive operating environment, employers in the hospitality, food and beverage, and retail sectors face rising temporary labour costs. <\/p>\n

However, most employers \u2013 83 per cent of them \u2013 said that they have not made any changes in terms of staffing or work arrangement. <\/p>\n

Among those who have done so, many chose to defer hiring and expansion plans (67 per cent), redeploy or cross-train their staff (33 per cent), or reduce headcount through natural attrition (33 per cent). One in four turned to cutting bonuses, allowances and benefits, while about one in five chose to reduce work hours. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are largely calibrated responses aimed at managing costs while preserving jobs,\u201d SNEF said in its press release on April 20. <\/p>\n

Many employers remain cautious, with 39 per cent of them having a negative outlook for the next six to 12 months.<\/p>\n

Most of them said tax relief or financing assistance (83 per cent) would be the most useful form of support should energy prices remain high. <\/p>\n

They called for energy cost relief and subsidies, and a delay in manpower policy changes that could raise costs further. <\/p>\n

Under Budget 2026, bosses\u00a0looking to hire foreign employees are expected to fork out more from 2027<\/a>, with the minimum qualifying salaries for Employment Pass (EP) holders to rise from $5,600 to $6,000, and for S Pass holders from $3,300 to $3,600.<\/p>\n

SNEF chief executive\u00a0Hao Shuo said: \u201cAs the global economic situation remains quite fluid, we hope that the Government will consider the prevailing economic conditions when implementing the earlier announced foreign manpower policy changes, and also introduce a tiered level of support under the enhanced Progressive Wage Credit Scheme to help employers that are raising wages for their lower-wage workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SNEF poll, held between April 10 and 16, drew responses from 210 companies in the financial, manufacturing, services and construction sectors. <\/p>\n

Most respondents \u2013 153 of them \u2013 were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 200 employees or an annual turnover of less than\u00a0$100 million.<\/p>\n

Woodlands Transport, which operates 300 buses, has felt the impact of the rising cost of fuel.<\/p>\n

Its executive director and head of bus division, Mr Voo Wei Keong, said the big surge in diesel prices has resulted in cost increases of at least 20 per cent since the war started. <\/p>\n

Mr Voo is appealing to the company\u2019s fixed-contract clients to accept a fuel surcharge. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany (existing) contracts do not have such a clause,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Ang Yuit, president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, said that many firms are also choosing to absorb the temporary cost increases of fuel instead of passing them down to consumers.<\/p>\n

If high prices persist, some businesses will be forced to close because of non-viability, while others will have to extend hiring freezes, he said.<\/p>\n

With or without the war, there is room for the Government to help by directing resources and helping businesses to transition into new fields, he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we are in a transitional phase with artificial intelligence coming in, some businesses require a major shift of strategic plans. <\/p>\n

\u201cCan we put in incentives to direct our companies to strengthen their strategic advantages, such as doubling down on AI, or even in new areas like food security, energy and manufacturing?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SINGAPORE \u2013 Most bosses here are facing mounting cost pressures due to an energy shock triggered by the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":{"0":"post-619565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}