14 February 2017
According to the results of a Graduate Employment Survey conducted earlier this year, a higher proportion of university graduates are taking up temporary jobs instead of permanent or full-time jobs. The survey polled graduates from the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Singapore Management University.
Traditionally, arts and humanities graduates tend to take up more freelance or part-time jobs, but this trend is spreading to graduates of other disciplines as well.
Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said in Parliament in February this year that although the overall percentage of people engaged in freelancing has remained stable, their numbers could be growing in sectors like private-hire car services.
Experts expect the trend of non-permanent employment to continue, due to factors such as changing demands from companies and a shift in employees’ mindsets.
Increasingly, contract work allows companies a greater degree of flexibility to adapt to changing staffing needs and enables companies to maintain a certain agility amidst uncertain economic conditions.
Employees today also tend to job hop, and many are looking toward freelance arrangements due to their flexibility as well as a greater degree of control in managing one’s own career.