More fresh poly grads in full-time jobs with higher pay in 2023

Nearly 60% land full-time permanent jobs; median gross monthly salary at 2,800

- Elisha Tushara

Fresh polytechnic graduates commanded higher salaries and had better job prospects in 2023, according to a poll conducted by the five polytechnics in Singapore.

Results from the latest Graduate Employment Survey (GES) released on Jan 12 show that nearly 60 per cent of them landed full-time permanent jobs in 2023, inching upwards from 59 per cent in 2022 and about 58 per cent in 2021.

Overall, in 2023, 92.7 per cent of polytechnic graduates found permanent, freelance or part-time jobs within six months of graduation or after completion of full-time national service (NS).

This is a slight increase from 91.8 per cent in 2022, continuing a steady improvement in job prospects as Singapore's economy gradually recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The median gross monthly salary among graduates in full-time permanent employment grew by $200, from $2,600 in 2022 to $2,800 in 2023.

Graduates from health sciences, humanities and social sciences, and information and digital technologies took home higher pay than their peers from other courses.

A total of 8,065 out of 10,757 fresh polytechnic graduates in 2023 responded to the survey. They were asked about their employment status as at Oct 1, 2023 about six months after graduation.

Also surveyed were 5,055 out of 8,739 graduates from 2020, who completed their full-time NS between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023.

The unemployment rate of fresh polytechnic graduates went down from 8.2 per cent in 2022 to 7.3 per cent in 2023.