9 in 10 graduates of Singapore's top universities hired within 6 months

The average gross monthly salary of those in full-time permanent employment rose to $3,733 from $3,613 in 2017.

The 2018 graduates achieved slightly higher overall and full-time permanent employment rates compared to the previous cohort. Those in full-time permanent employment also reported higher median starting pay compared with those who graduated in 2017.

90.2% of fresh graduates from the full-time programmes of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) found employment within six months of completing their final examinations, higher than the 88.9% in 2017.

According to the 2018 Joint Graduate Employment Survey (JAUGES), the percentage of those doing freelance work, fell to 1.8% from 2.4% in 2017. Also falling - the percentage in part-time/temporary employment, which was 7.2% in 2018, lower than the 8.2% in 2017. In addition, the proportion who were unemployed and still looking for a job or in involuntary part-time/temporary employment decreased by 2.1 ppt.

The average gross monthly salary amongst fresh graduates in full-time permanent employment was $3,733 in 2018, higher than $3,613 in 2017. The median gross monthly salary was $3,500, higher than the $3,400 in 2017.

Survey findings also showed that SUSS’ pioneer batch of graduates from full-time programmes obtained high overall and full-time permanent employment rates of 95.5% and 90.9% respectively in 2018. The median gross monthly salary of those in full-time permanent employment was $3,000. They came from three courses – Bachelor of Accountancy, Bachelor of Science in Finance, and Bachelor of Science in Marketing.

In 2018, Information & Digital Technologies, Business, and Built Environment graduates had the highest full-time permanent employment rates. Engineering graduates showed strong improvements in both overall and full-time permanent employment rates, compared to 2017. Median gross monthly salaries have also increased across all course clusters in 2018.

Of those in the labour force, 96.9% secured employment after the completion of their practical training / housemanship / first-year residency training, similar to 2017. 93.9% of those in the labour force secured full-time permanent employment, slightly higher than the 93.6% in 2017.

Another 0.4% were freelancing, lower than the 1.0% in 2017. The percentage in part-time/temporary employment was 2.6% in 2018, compared to 2.2% in 2017.

The mean gross monthly salary amongst those in full-time permanent employment was $4,583, slightly higher compared to $4,565 in 2017. The median gross monthly salary has remained at $4,500 over the past three years.

About 11,200 fresh graduates from full-time programmes at NTU, NUS, SMU and SUSS participated in the 2018 survey.