9 in 10 poly students found jobs within 6 months of graduating or finishing NS in 2022

SINGAPORE: About nine in 10 - 91.8 per cent - of polytechnic students found work within six months of graduating or completing full-time National Service in 2022, comparable to the 92.2 per cent rate in 2021.

The latest polytechnic graduate employment survey, released on Friday (Jan 13), also found that 59 per cent of those who joined the labour force were in full-time permanent employment - up from 58.1 per cent in 2021.

The median gross monthly salary of this group of graduates increased from S$2,500 in 2021 to S$2,600 in 2022. It was S$2,400 in 2020.

Those with diplomas from the Health Sciences, Information and Digital Technologies as well as Engineering courses received higher median gross monthly salaries than the overall median for all graduates, survey results showed. 

The responses were gathered from 8,406 fresh polytechnic graduates in 2022, and 5,296 graduates from 2019 who completed their full-time National Service between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022.

FREELANCING, WORKING PART-TIME

The share of polytechnic graduates freelancing rose to 5.9 per cent, continuing a trend from 3.8 per cent in 2020 and 4.7 per cent in 2021.

For those in part-time or temporary employment, proportions fell from 29.4 per cent in 2021 to 26.9 per cent in 2022. 

The share of those who voluntarily found such employment dropped from 27.6 per cent in 2021 to 25.8 per cent in 2022, while that of those who involuntarily did so dropped slightly from 1.8 per cent in 2021 to 1.1 per cent in 2022.

Like previous years, about half the polytechnic graduates in part-time or temporary employment were concurrently pursuing or preparing to begin further studies.

Slightly over 8 per cent of graduates were unemployed after six months, up from 7.8 per cent the previous year.

Of these, 2.2 per cent were either beginning work soon or actively starting a business venture. Those unemployed and still looking for a job formed 5.9 per cent of the total.

“Our polytechnic graduates continue to play a key role to augment Singapore’s manpower demands,” said the principal of Nanyang Polytechnic Jeanne Liew, speaking on behalf of the polytechnic graduate employment survey committee.

“The healthy employment rate and increase in median salary for both the fresh and post-National Service graduates reflect employers’ trust that our graduates are equipped with the necessary skills and competencies to excel in the workplace.”

The annual survey is jointly conducted by Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic.