92% of SMU fresh graduates hired, but salary remains steady: survey

Top three programs based on hirings were finance, IT, law and accounting.

A recent survey showed 92.3% of fresh graduates from the Singapore Management University (SMU) joined the labor force within six months of completing their final exams, although the salaries matched 2022 levels.

The yearly Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey conducted 

Of the six universities that participated in the yearly Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey, results from the SMU showed 68.4% of its fresh graduates got offers for full-time jobs even prior to graduation. 

More than half of graduates with full-time permanent employment received job offers through internships. Their mean and median gross monthly salaries stood at $4,890 and $4,500, respectively, mainly unchanged from the rates in 2022.

The top three sectors with most employments were in the financial and insurance sector, information and communication segment, as well as legal, accounting and auditing industry. 

Fresh law graduates recorded the highest paychecks at around $7,000 in median gross monthly salary, followed by computer science graduates at $5,800 and information systems students at $5,400. 

“We are delighted to observe the continuing high demand for SMU graduates,” said SMU Provost, Professor Timothy Clark. “This underscores the value employers place in our comprehensive and interdisciplinary educational approach, alongside a co-curricular programme which fosters values and essential skills critical in the professional arena.” 

For SMU, the study polled 1,717 students who graduated from the university last year, which accounted for 76% of all the 2,257 SMU alumni.