Since graduating in May this year with a degree in business analytics from a Singapore university, Ms Dhiya Diyana Irwan has sent out 50 job applications but has yet to secure a full time role.
To tide through daily expenses for food and transport and not depend too much on her family while searching for a permanent job, Ms Dhiya has taken on part-time work as a personal assistant in a financial organisation. The 27-year-old did not want to be identified because he did not seek his current employer's permission to comment.“You wouldn’t normally think that someone who has graduated for almost a year now would apply for an internship,” he said of the latest development.
Many are increasingly turning to short-term options such as internships, traineeships or contract positions in the absence of full-time offers.Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey As for the contract duration of the jobs graduates had found, the percentage of those in full-time permanent employment had dropped to 84.1 per cent in 2023, down from 87.5 per cent in 2022.
However, recent graduates may face more difficulty securing full-time positions due to cyclical conditions that have likely made employers more cautious in hiring, she added. For some fresh graduates, securing permanent job roles continues to be an uphill task, never mind what statistics show of "high and broadly stable" overall employment rates for residents in the age group of 25 to 64 in theCNA TODAY looks at what else these young jobseekers have experienced, what employers say and whether this trend is temporary or a sign of deeper structural shifts in the job market.
He has had to do technical tests that lasted three hours, each requiring applicants to pick up a unique set of skills suited to the set of technologies that each company uses, but did not get a response from firms after that.“People outside the computer science industry have been saying that this is the best place to get jobs. I’m not sure if I feel the same way right now. I think every field has its own set of challenges if you want to get into it,” Mr Shyam added.
“Although some listings say ‘fresh graduates are welcome’, when you look deeper, they want skills and experiences that a regular design graduate won’t have.” Ms Haelyn Lim Ying graduated with a bachelor of arts in design practice from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. She has applied for more than 100 jobs and has done a few part-time ad hoc work. Fewer graduates found work 6 months after leaving university in 2023, but median salary up slightly: Survey
"So in those three hours of free time from 9pm to 12am, I have to choose between relaxing or doing something productive like applying for more jobs or building up my portfolio.”WHY EMPLOYERS ARE INTO CONTRACT HIRING "For fresh graduates, there is often a learning curve as they develop the necessary skills, work ethic and maturity for full-time roles."
Mr Piperdy added that offering fresh graduates a short-term position can be mutually beneficial because employees may assess the “unspoken aspects” of work, such as if the firm’s work-from-home policies or culture suit their expectations. As employer, he also has the flexibility to see if the graduate is the best fit.
He noted that many fellow entrepreneurs have found that “knowledge-based activities” on the job that might have been done by less experienced hires can now be effectively handled by artificial intelligence, so they are more focused on hiring experienced professionals. “As long as our company remains this size, this will be our approach. We go from project to project, so when there’s a gap between projects, we don’t want to be laden with overheads,” Mr Bashir added.IS THIS A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?
The growth in the pool of permanent roles may be driven by sectors such as hospitality or service, to which fresh graduates do not typically gravitate, one economist said. Online jobs portal Jobstreet in Singapore, operated by Seek that is headquartered in Australia, said that 32 per cent of hirers here anticipated an active job market in the second half of 2024, down from 45 per cent in the first half. This was from its Hiring, Compensation and Benefits Report 2024.released by MOM on Oct 29, fewer companies have reported an intention to hire or to raise wages in the next three months.