SINGAPORE: Polytechnic graduates last year saw better employment prospects and higher salaries compared to students in the 2017 cohort, according to the Graduate Employment Survey released on Tuesday (Jan 15).
About 89.5 per cent of the graduates found full-time, part-time temporary and freelance jobs within six months of graduation. This is 2.2 percentage points higher than in 2017.
The survey – jointly conducted by Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic – also found that for those in full-time permanent employment, the overall median gross monthly salary went up from S$2,235 in 2017 to S$2,350 in 2018.
As with the previous year, students who graduated from health sciences earned the most compared to their peers from other courses.
The numbers show that polytechnic graduates continue to be sought after by employers, said the polytechnics in a media release.
It added that students are becoming more open to voluntary part-time/temporary and freelance employment.
“This is a reflection of rising desire to further their studies, and also evolving employment preferences among our polytechnic graduates,” said a spokesman of the 2018 survey committee.
“Based on past trends, the majority of those initially in part-time/temporary employment transited to full-time permanent jobs after some time. Data also shows that our graduates enjoy good wage growth even as overall employment rates remain high.”
