Fewer private university graduates found full-time jobs within six months of graduating in 2024 than in the previous year.

According to the 2024 Private Education Institution Graduate Employment Survey, 74.8 per cent of 2,300 fresh graduates from private education institutions (PEIs) in the labour force found permanent, freelance or part-time jobs within six months of graduating, a decrease from 83.2 per cent in 2023.

Less than half or 46.4 per cent of them found full-time work within six months in 2024 as compared to 58.7 per cent in 2023.

The survey results, which were released by SkillsFuture Singapore on Tuesday (May 26), also showed that more PEI graduates were in part-time or temporary jobs (24.2 per cent, up from 18.9 per cent in 2023), while fewer took on freelance work (4.2 per cent, down from 5.7 per cent in 2023) within the same period.

A total of 3,500 graduates across 27 PEIs took part in the survey.

The statistics appear to signal a weaker overall hiring demand than previous years amid slowing economic growth. 

However, the median gross monthly salaries of those in full-time work were found to have risen to $3,500 in 2024, from $3,400 in 2023.

Graduates from the Parkway College of Nursing and Allied Health as well as ERC Institute, which offers degree courses in business and technology among others, took home the highest pay with a median gross monthly salary of $4,000, followed by graduates from the Singapore Institute of Management who earned a median salary of $3,600.

A graduating student from Curtin University, who wished to be known as Heng, told AsiaOne that she was able to secure a job in February, within a month of finishing her classes.

"I do feel glad I managed to secure my job that soon, but I realise it is more important to source for jobs which are aligned with my goals and needs as well," she said.

Heng stated that her starting pay was around the median salary of $3,281 for graduates from her university, but declined to reveal the exact number.

The 23-year-old, who studied Accounting and Finance, eventually left her first full-time job as an accountant at a local firm after two months, as she felt it was not aligned with her learning and development goals.

She then pivoted to working as a financial advisor at the insurance arm of a bank. 

The private education survey, conducted between November 2024 and March 2025, recorded responses from about 3,500 fresh graduates of full-time bachelor’s degree programmes across 27 private institutions, including James Cook University, PSB Academy and Management Development Institute of Singapore.

The poll findings focused on employment outcomes of those who graduated between May 2023 and April 2024 from full-time bachelor’s-level external degree programmes.

The survey also found that those from information and digital technologies commanded the highest median gross monthly salary at $4,080, followed by humanities and social sciences at $3,500.

Graduates from engineering courses in private institutions had the highest proportion in full-time permanent jobs at 55.3 per cent, followed closely by those in the sciences, at 51.8 per cent.

Out of the survey respondents, 28.3 per cent were either unemployed and looking for jobs, or in involuntary part-time or temporary employment. 

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com

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