Chart of the Day: Tertiary-educated workers snaps up over half of labour force

Those with degree holders grew to 37.5% from 26.7% in June 2009.

This chart from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) shows that tertiary-educated residents accounted for 57.6% of the total labour force as of end-June, up from 43.7% in the same month ten years ago.

The growth mostly consists of degree holders, whose share in the labour force grew to 37.5% from 26.7% over the ten-year period. At the same time, those with diploma or professional qualification climbed to 20.1% from 16.9%.

“As younger cohorts with greater access to higher education enter the labour force and older
cohorts progressively retire, the profile of residents in the labour force became better educated
than before,” MOM stated.

Despite economic headwinds, the employment rate for residents aged 25 to 64 rose to 80.8% in June 2019, compared to 80.3% in June 2018.