SINGAPORE: The proportion of university graduates who left school in 2025 has declined, according to the Graduate Employment Survey results on Thursday (5 March).

A joint study by Singapore’s six autonomous universities found that 83.4 per cent of new graduates who sought employment were working within six months of their final exams.

This has decreased from 87.1% in 2024, and the downward trend will continue from 2022 onwards.

The median total monthly salary for this group remained stable at S$4,500 (US$3,500).

For the first time, the study categorizes graduates based on whether they have secured employment, rather than whether they are employed or unemployed.

Previously, people who had accepted a job offer and were waiting to start work, or who were preparing to start a business, were considered unemployed.

Starting with the 2025 cohort, these graduates will now be included in the group who have secured employment.

Under this new classification, the proportion of new graduates who secured employment within six months in 2025 was 88.9 percent, down from 91.2 percent in 2024.

Overall, 92.2% were looking for work by 2025 and not through other routes such as further education or vacation.

This is up from 90.7% in 2024.

The majority (74.4%) of those looking for work found full-time, permanent employment. This is down from 79.4% in 2024.

The proportion of part-time or temporary workers increased from 6% to 7.2% in 2024. Many of them were involuntary workers: 3.1% compared with 2.3% in 2024.

The rest who secured employment were either working as freelancers, waiting to get started after accepting a job offer, or actively taking steps to start their own business.

The percentage of new graduates without job security rose from 8.8% to 11.1% in 2024.

Of this, 8.5% of those who applied but did not receive an offer of full-time regular employment, an increase from 5.7% in 2024.

The remainder either rejected offers of full-time permanent employment or were not looking for full-time permanent employment.