07 July 2020
University students in Singapore are scrambling for internships at a time when the hiring activity of businesses has slowed considerably.
Internship positions have dwindled drastically as mainline jobs are being cut and staff excised.
The Singapore Management University has infrastructure to assist students in this regard. The SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship has a Global Innovation Immersion programme which aims to matches aspiring student-entrepreneurs with firms worldwide.
However, increased demand from local students to take on short-term projects and part-time jobs has affected overall internship opportunities.
Local universities are actively monitoring the internship and employment situation for its students and graduates.
Ms Joan Tay, director of the Centre for Future-ready Graduates at the National University of Singapore, said it anticipates that sectors like retail and hospitality, transport and aerospace, as well as SMEs to be most affected by the current downdraft.
Meanwhile, NUS has placed over 7,000 students on internships in its current academic year. NUS is also seeking remote internships with overseas partners, and several in countries such as Chile, China and Switzerland have started to offer such positions.