02 October 2018
A rising number of Singaporean graduates are finding it difficult to land their first job, even as employment remains robust and graduates on the whole are being gainfully employed.
Advance labour market figures released by the Ministry of Manpower showed that economic and job prospects for local graduates remained uneven in the second quarter of this year.
Hiring remains cautious in industries such as construction and marine.
By contrast, robust opportunities continue to be available in finance and insurance, infocomms and media, healthcare, professional services, and wholesale trade.
Joint survey data released in February by the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Singapore Management University also showed a smaller proportion of last year’s graduates securing permanent full-time jobs within six months of graduation.
Local universities have implemented a slew of measures aimed at getting their students ready for the job market.
SMU, for instance, assigns a career coach to each student and offers compulsory career services workshops.
At NUS, a Roots & Wings programme was initiated to assist freshmen in developing personal and interpersonal effectiveness skills.