Fresh university graduates in Singapore enjoyed higher salaries in 2023 than in the last three years, according to the country’s latest graduate employment survey released on Thursday (22 February).
Around 12,300 fresh graduates from full-time programmes in the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University and Singapore University of Social Sciences participated in the 2023 survey, representing a response rate of 74%, reports The Strait Times.
However, fewer of them were able to find full-time, part-time and freelance jobs amid slower economic growth, the survey found.
According to the survey, the median gross salaries of fresh graduates in Singapore rose to $4,313, up from $4,200 in 2022.
Meanwhile, around 84% of fresh graduates in the labour force could secure full-time permanent roles in 2023, compared with 87.5% in 2022.
There were also fewer of them in part-time or temporary work - 4%, down from 4.5% in 2022 and fewer in freelancing - 1.5%, down from 1.8% in 2022.
Of the 10,900 graduates in Singapore’s labour force surveyed, 89.6% found permanent, freelance, or part-time jobs within six months of graduating - a drop from 93.8% in 2022.
The figure is about the same for pre-Covid-19 years.
From 2017 to 2019, an average of 89.9% of those in Singapore’s labour force were employed, with 80.4% in full-time permanent roles.
Health sciences, information and digital technologies, and business were the three-course clusters that recorded the highest full-time permanent employment rates for graduates in 2023: 95.9%, 88.7% and 88.3%, respectively.
Graduates from information and digital technologies courses continued to take home the highest monthly pay at $5,500, although it is a slight dip from $5,625 in 2022. Graduates from engineering also experienced a drop in median gross monthly salary to $4,500, from $4,600 in 2022.
All other course clusters recorded an increase in their graduates' median gross monthly salary.
Singapore’s economy grew 1.1% in 2023 - slowing from the 3.8% expansion in 2022. The figure was below the 1.2% official estimate made in January 2024.
