Poly grads finding full-time permanent jobs after graduation at 3-year high of 59% in 2022: Poll

Graduate salaries also increased across the board, with starting pays of graduates from eight clusters seeing increases. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

SINGAPORE — The proportion of polytechnic students who found full-time permanent jobs after graduation rose to a three-year high of 59 per cent in 2022.

This was a small increase from 58.1 per cent in 2021 and 52 per cent in 2020, as employment statistics continue their rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic, figures released on Friday showed.

Slightly more than nine in 10 or 91.8 per cent of fresh graduates and graduates coming out of national service were employed, according to the 2022 Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey, said the five polytechnics in a joint statement.

This was close to the 2021 figure of 92.2 per cent, but higher than the 87.4 per cent in 2020.

Graduate salaries also increased across the board, with the starting pay of graduates from eight groups of course types rising from an average of $2,500 a month in 2021 to $2,600 in 2022.

The salaries of health sciences graduates went up the most, from $2,650 in 2021 to $2,854 in 2022, while the starting pay of engineering graduates increased by $200 from $2,500 to $2,700 over the same period.

A total of 8,406 out of 11,253 fresh graduates in 2022 responded to the survey, the statement added.

As at Oct 1, 2022 – about six months after graduation – 57.9 per cent of respondents were part of the labour force.

Another 41.3 per cent were pursuing or preparing to begin further studies and hence not looking for jobs, while most of the remaining 0.8 per cent said they were taking a break and not seeking employment, it said.

Also, 5,296 out of 8,768 graduates from 2019 who completed their full-time national service in 2022 responded to the survey. Of these, 41.9 per cent were in the labour force while 57.8 per cent were pursuing or preparing to begin further studies and not looking for jobs.

Similar to the fresh graduates, most of the remaining 0.3 per cent said they were taking a break and not seeking employment, the statement added.

Some, like Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) graduate Khoirunnisa Azmi, 21, are entering the working world while going for additional qualifications.

Ms Khoirunnisa has been working in an interior design firm as a technical drafter for about five months after graduating with a diploma in spatial design, and pursuing a year-long specialist work-study diploma from NYP.

It is a good start as her starting pay is about the market rate, she said. She added that she hopes her experience and additional qualifications will help her progress to becoming a designer drawing a higher salary.

Speaking to The Straits Times on Friday, she said: “I was initially a bit scared and uncertain about graduating as the pandemic was still ongoing and I was still not entirely sure what I wanted to do.

“But now, restrictions have lifted and people are opening up and being creative about their spaces, so my industry is in a good place.”

The latest job numbers also showed a slight uptick in the number of polytechnic graduates freelancing, as well as the number of those unemployed. Of those polled, 5.9 per cent were freelancing, up from 4.7 per cent in 2021.

The number of unemployed poly graduates rose slightly from 7.8 per cent in 2021 to 8.2 per cent in 2022, down from a high of 12.6 per cent in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

Of the 8.2 per cent, 2.2 per cent were starting work soon or actively starting a business venture while 5.9 per cent were still looking for a job.

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