Singapore has been urged to rethink how it measures graduate employment, amid concerns that outcomes are being measured too narrowly through metrics such as immediate full-time jobs.
Deputy vice-chancellor of James Cook University in Singapore, Carole-Anne Upton, said that data on first jobs, including the length of time it takes to land one, can be “a useful indicator of something of the transition from education into work”. But she cautioned it is “not the be-all and end-all”.
“What we’re trying to do here is something broader than just get people into that first job,” she said.
Data from three graduate surveys published this year revealed that 74.4 per cent of graduates from public and autonomous universities in Singapore secured full-time employment last year. Meanwhile 66.2 per cent of post-national service graduates from polytechnics secured full-time employment.
However, fewer than half of fresh graduates (46.9 per cent) from private universities in Singapore secured full-time employment in 2024-25. This is a small 0.5 per cent rise from the previous year.
