Good news for SUTD students amidst tough labour market conditions!
The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has done it again; for the second year in a row, the fledgling university’s graduates have managed to achieve the highest median gross monthly salary amongst their peers, according to the joint graduate employment survey.
The survey is a joint effort conducted by SUTD, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University (SMU) and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). It was found that the median starting salary for SUTD graduates with full-time employment was S$3,650, up marginally from the previous survey where the median was S$3,600.
Battle Of The Best Local Universities
Comparatively, fresh graduates from NUS, SMU, and NTU recorded a median of S$3,360. Breaking down that number further, we see SMU graduates coming up tops with a median starting salary of S$3,500, with NUS graduates earning S$3,400, and NTU graduates rounding up the list with S$3,300.
Impressively, graduates from SUTD’s information systems technology and design course managed to clinch a median salary of S $3,950, putting them on par with NUS graduates from the same course.
SUTD’s President, Professor Thomas Magnanti, observed that “despite challenging economic conditions, [they] are heartened that there continues to be strong demand for [their] technology and design-trained students.”
What’s notably different this time around, however, is the percentage of students who managed to find gainful full-time permanent employment within six months. 84 percent of SUTD graduates were able to secure a full-time job, while only 80.2 percent of graduates from the other universities were able to do the same – a stark decline from last year’s 83.1 percent employment rate.
Gloomy Labour Market Makes Employment A Challenge
This news comes as no surprise due to the current economic climate. According to the Labour Market Report 2016 released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on 15th March, last year saw the highest percentage of degree holders who were unemployed long-term (for at least 25-weeks) since 2004, with the figure hovering around 1 percent.
Paul Heng, a human resource expert with NeXT Career Consulting Group, did note that despite the gloomy numbers, it doesn’t mean that degree holders are being targeted. It just means more jobs are being dispensed with.”
Moreover, it must be stated that the starting salaries for fresh graduates have been on a steady rise over the past few years. Amongst new graduates, average gross monthly income in 2016 was $3,515, a healthy increase from the previous survey’s $3,468 in 2015. Additionally, with the economic pick-up at the tail end of 2016 expect to continue into 2017 and the substantial support tech startups are getting from the government, a healthy job creation rate is expected as a result of these factors coming into play.
