8 in 10 private school grads in Singapore land jobs in 6 months: report

Autonomous university and polytechnic grads had higher rates of employment.

Over 83% of fresh graduates from private education institutions (PEI) in the city-state got jobs six months after graduating and the majority were permanently employed, according to SkillsFuture Singapore’s latest Graduate Employment Survey.

Close to 59% of those employed within six months post-graduation found full-time permanent employment, while 19% landed part-time gigs and about 6% went freelancing.

Private school fresh graduates with full-time permanent employment had a median gross monthly salary of $3,400.

The remaining 19% of the fresh grads are either unemployed and job-seeking or in involuntary part-time jobs.

“The employment outcomes of PEI graduates varied considerably across the different institutions,” the report stated. “Prospective students looking to pursue full-time Bachelor’s level EDPs (external degree programmes) are encouraged to review the employment outcomes for specific institutions before making their decisions.”

SkillsFuture’s data showed autonomous university and post-National Service polytechnic students recorded higher chances of securing jobs.

Fresh graduates from autonomous universities had nearly 90% overall employment rate with about 84% having full-time permanent employment, earning a median gross salary of $4,313. Autonomous university graduates had just 8% of unemployed, seeking jobs or temporarily employed fresh graduates.

For post-National Service polytechnic fresh graduates, there were over 95% employed overall with roughly 69% having full-time permanent employment, earning a median gross salary of $2,963. The remaining 4% are either unemployed, job-seeking or working part-time.

The report surveyed 9,100 full-time Bachelor’s level EDP graduates across 26 PEIs, where about 41% responded, with 2,400 economically active.