SINGAPORE – With a near-perfect score for his A-level exams, 22-year-old Kee Song Yang had his pick of university courses before settling on computer science, in part for the promise of a high starting wage.
Since 2019, the number of students enrolled in NUS’ School of Computing and its computer engineering course, which is jointly organised by the College of Design and Engineering and the School of Computing, has risen 68 per cent, from 3,498 to 5,878.computing-related courses has nearly doubled from 1,987 in the 2019/2020 academic year to 3,156 in 2023/2024. Similarly, enrolment in SMU’s computer science degree programme jumped from 49 in 2019 to 578 in 2023.
The route into permanent positions in these firms is often through internships, which can result in “conversions”, or offers of employment, said fourth-year NUS computer science student Vibilan Jayanth, 21. Roles at established tech firms or financial firms such as Jane Street CapitalThat is why competition for such internships is fierce, said Mr Vibilan, who sent out 30 applications for internships last year. His peers too had sent out between 50 and 100 applications.
Figures from the annual graduate employment survey showed that 88.7 per cent of information and digital technologies graduates found full-time permanent work after six months in 2023, down from 93.2 per cent in 2022 and 93.7 per cent in 2021. The job market has faced challenges due to economic uncertainties and changes in the hiring patterns of big tech companies, he said.