About 1 in 2 PEI graduates in Full-time Permanent Employment months after graduation

Findings of the Private Education Institution (PEI) Graduate Employment Survey (GES) 2020/2021 released by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) showed that about one in two PEI fresh graduates in the labour force found full-time permanent employment within six months of completing their final examinations.

The survey findings focused on the employment outcomes¹ of economically active fresh graduates who graduated between May 2020 and April 2021 from full-time Bachelor’s level external degree programmes (EDPs). There were about 9,400 full-time Bachelor’s level EDP graduates across 28 PEIs, 45.3% of whom responded to the PEI GES survey. Among the respondents, about 2,900 individuals were economically active fresh graduates.

As the PEI GES aims to reflect the employment outcomes of new entrants into the labour force, the findings do not cover the following groups of students: fresh graduates who are not economically active, part-time students, and mature learners. International students working or seeking employment overseas have also been excluded from the analysis to better reflect employment opportunities for PEI graduates in the Singapore labour market.

Key Findings of PEI GES 2020/2021

Employment Outcomes

Of the 2,900 economically active PEI fresh graduates surveyed in the 2020/2021 cohort, 85.3% were employed within six months of their final examinations. This 85.3% comprised graduates who found (a) full-time permanent employment (46.4%); (b) part-time or temporary employment (35.6%); or (c) freelance jobs (3.2%).

The 85.3% was higher as compared to the 80.7% for the 2019/2020 cohort. The higher employment rate was due to the increase in the proportion of those who found part-time or temporary employment, which rose to 35.6% from 28.7%. The proportion of PEI fresh graduates who found full-time permanent employment declined slightly to 46.4% as compared to 49.0% for the previous cohort.

In comparison, the overall employment rate and full-time permanent employment rate for Autonomous University (AU) fresh graduates from the 2021 cohort² were 94.4% and 84.0% respectively, higher than the corresponding figures for the PEIs fresh graduates. The overall employment rate and full-time permanent employment rate for post-National Service polytechnic graduates³ were also higher, at 94.2% and 63.3% respectively.

The proportion of PEI fresh graduates who were unemployed and still looking for a job within 6 months of their final examinations, or were in involuntary part-time/temporary employment, was 27.9%. This was higher than the corresponding figure of 6.2% for AU fresh graduates and 6.7% for post-National Service polytechnic graduates.

Salary Outcomes

The survey also showed that the median gross monthly salary of PEI fresh graduates in full-time permanent employment was $2,989, compared to $3,800 for AU fresh graduates and $2,614 for post-National Service polytechnic graduates.

There was considerable variation in the employment outcomes of PEI graduates across the different institutions. Potential students looking to pursue EDPs are advised to look at the outcomes for specific institutions before making their decisions.

Ms Hui Mei San, Director-General (Private Education), SkillsFuture Singapore, said, “With a greater focus on lifelong learning today, there are multiple learning pathways and opportunities available for Singaporeans to pursue learning and upgrading at different stages of their lives, to achieve their career goals and aspirations. The findings of the PEI GES thus aim to help prospective students make informed decisions when deciding on their learning and career options amidst these varied options.”  

Detailed results of the survey can be found in Annexes B, C & D, and on the SSG website at www.ssg.gov.sg/cpe/ges.html.

Annex A

Definition of Terms

Economically active graduates – Economically active graduates are defined as those who are working, or not working but actively looking and available for a job.

Fresh graduates – Fresh graduates are defined as those who have less than one year of full-time permanent work experience.

Employment – Employment refers to graduates working on a full-time permanent, part-time, temporary or freelance basis.

Full-time Permanent Employment - Full-time Permanent Employment refers to employment of at least 35 hours a week and where the employment is not temporary. It includes those on contracts of one year or more.

Freelancers – Freelancers refer to those who operate their own business without employing any paid worker in the conduct of their business or trade.

Part-time Employment - Part-time Employment refers to employment of less than 35 hours a week.

Temporary Employment – Temporary Employment refers to casual, interim or seasonal employment, including those on contracts of less than one year.

Voluntary part-time/temporary employment – Voluntary part-time/temporary employment refers to those who indicated that they were in part-time/temporary employment as they were pursuing/ preparing to commence further studies, taking active steps to start a business venture, due to personal choice and other reasons.

Involuntary Part-Time/Temporary Employment - Involuntary Part-Time/Temporary Employment refers to those who indicated that they were in part-time/temporary employment as they tried but were unable to obtain a full-time permanent job offer so far.

Unemployed but starting work soon – Unemployed but starting work soon refers to those who indicated that they were not working as they had accepted a job offer and will start later, or were taking steps to start a business venture.

Unemployed and still looking for a job – Unemployed and still looking for a job refers to those who indicated that they were not working, but were actively looking and available for work.

Gross Monthly Salary – Gross Monthly Salary comprises basic salary, fixed allowances, over-time pay, commissions and other regular cash payments, before deduction of the employee’s CPF contributions and personal income tax. Employer’s CPF contributions, bonuses, stock options, other lump sum payments and payments-in-kind are excluded.

Annex B

Note: Employment figures may not add up due to rounding off.
* Includes 9.9%-points of graduates on the SGUnited Traineeships Programme
^ Includes 14.2%-points of graduates on the SGUnited Traineeships Programme
> Includes 3.6%-points of graduates on the SGUnited Traineeships Programme
~ Includes 2.7%-points of graduates on the SGUnited Traineeships Programme

Annex C

Annex D

_{Note: Private Education Institutions are arranged in alphabetical order
^# Air Transport Training College was deregistered as a PEI on 18 Mar 2022}

_{¹Definitions of the employment indicators are in Annex A.}

_{²This references the 2021 Joint AU Graduate Employment Survey (JAUGES) results that were published on 16 Feb 2022. This includes full-time undergraduates who graduated in May 2021 from NUS, NTU, SMU and SUSS only.}

_{³This references the 2021 Joint Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey results that were published on 13 Jan 2022.}

_{⁴The 2021 Joint AU Graduate Employment Survey (JAUGES) results were published on 16 Feb 2022. This includes full-time undergraduates who graduated in May 2021 from NUS, NTU, SMU and SUSS only.}

_{⁵The 2021 Joint Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey results were published on 13 Jan 2022.}

_{⁶Results of PEIs with less than 10 respondents are not published as there are too few economically active fresh graduate respondents for the data to be meaningful.}

_{⁷Response rate refers to the percentage of graduates from full-time degree programmes in PEIs who responded to the survey.}

_{⁸Results of PEIs based on a small sample size of fewer than 30 full-time fresh PEI degree graduates may not be representative of the institution’s graduate employment outcomes. Users should exercise caution in interpreting the data.}

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