SINGAPORE: A new survey on Tuesday showed that 87.4 per cent of polytechnic graduates were employed within six months of graduating in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting Singapore’s job market, down from 90.7 per cent in the previous year.
Of those who were employed, 52 per cent had full-time jobs, down from 61.1 per cent in 2019, according to data from the annual Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey, which gathered responses from 7,360 polytechnic graduates.Jointly conducted by Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic, the survey also showed that the proportion of graduates who were in part-time employment increased from 25.5 per cent in 2019 to 31.
Around a sixth of those in part-time or temporary employment were on the SGUnited Traineeships Programme, a government initiative launched in June 2020 to help job seekers find traineeships or attachments with host companies. Under the programme, traineeships last for up to 12 months. Trainees also get a monthly training allowance, of which 80 per cent is funded by the Government.