A STUDY ON THE RESILIENCE OF THE SINGAPORE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the Singapore economy, with the construction industry being one of the most impacted sectors due to its reliance on economic cycles. The sector faced numerous mounting challenges, including labour shortages, skyrocketing construction costs and project delays. Now, almost 2 years after the pandemic began in Singapore, the local economy and construction industry are showing signs of recovery. However, research on the Singapore construction industry in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic has largely been concentrated on analysing the impact of and lessons learned from the pandemic in the built environment. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the resilience of the Singapore construction industry to the COVID-19 pandemic using the resilience model formulated with the parameters of absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity, and restorative capacity, which will examine the industry’s resistance, response, and recoverability. Through a review of secondary data on the economic performance of the Singapore construction industry, case study of selected construction firms and interviews with professionals in the construction industry, the findings of this study have indicated that the Singapore construction industry has been relatively resilient to the COVID-19 pandemic with the support of measures rolled out by the Singapore Government and strategic leadership of the management team in construction firms, allowing for the quick recovery of the industry and an optimistic outlook in the years ahead.