SINGAPORE - More fresh graduates from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) found full-time work last year as the country's economic growth picked up momentum, with starting salaries exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
In the class of 2021, 86 per cent secured full-time permanent jobs, up from 69.8 per cent of the cohort which graduated in 2020.
Overall, 95.6 per cent of the 2021 cohort found employment, including part-time work, within six months of graduation, similar to 95 per cent for the previous batch.
These results were released on Friday in the annual Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey, which was conducted by SIT between March 1 and May 14.
Of the 2,006 graduates across 33 degree programmes from SIT and its 10 overseas university partners, 84.5 per cent, or 1,695, took part in the survey.
The survey findings for the other universities were released earlier this year owing to different academic calendars. They had also shown similar positive outcomes for their graduates.
Last year, graduates from the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University and Singapore University of Social Sciences drew a median gross monthly salary of $3,800, while those from the Singapore University of Technology and Design earned $4,500.
SIT graduates obtained a median gross monthly salary of $3,550 last year, compared with $3,500 in 2020.
SIT said yesterday this surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with both mean and median gross monthly salaries of those in full-time jobs at an all-time high.
Like in previous years, graduates from the information and communications technology (ICT) programmes commanded higher wages.
Fresh graduates in the ICT (software engineering) programme earned the most among their peers with a median monthly salary of $5,000, followed by ICT (information security) graduates with $4,950, and computer science in real-time interactive simulation graduates with $4,600.
SIT said it observed significant recovery for graduates in the tourism and built environment sectors which were heavily impacted by Covid-19. More of those in the hospitality business, civil engineering and sustainable infrastructure engineering (building services) programmes secured full-time work last year compared with the year before.
SIT president Chua Kee Chaing said: "We are heartened that the employment outcomes have rebounded and even exceeded pre-Covid-19 levels. Employers continue to express confidence in our students through advance job offers, even before they graduate – a strong testament to our applied learning pedagogy and programmes."
One in two SIT graduates received job offers from their Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP) companies before graduation, and of these, more than half accepted the offer.
The IWSP gives students up to 12 months of real-world work experience.
Ms Nur Safarah Zaharudin started work as an engineer in Alfa Tech Vestasia's facility services department in January 2021, after completing a 12-month IWSP with the firm.
The 24-year-old, who graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering with honours in sustainable infrastructure engineering (building services), said she had a good experience during her internship.
"I got to see projects from start to finish and work across departments in that one year," she said.
"I was not really worried about finding work as my line of work in facility management is considered essential. During the circuit breaker, I still had to work on-site during my internship," she added.
