Ng Jing Yng | 9 Jan, 2012 6:00 AM
SINGAPORE - Reflecting the current economic uncertainty, employment prospects for polytechnic graduates last year were relatively muted.
According to the latest Graduate Employment Survey for polytechnic students, which was released recently, 67 per cent of fresh polytechnic graduates obtained a full-time permanent job last year, a 1.5 percentage point drop as compared to 2010.
Similarly, the proportion of post-National Service (NS) poly graduates who secured full-time permanent employment fell from 81.3 per cent to 80.1 per cent over the same period.
Jointly issued by the five polytechnics here, the survey also saw more taking on part-time and temporary jobs among the 13,000 diploma holders interviewed.
Pay has, however, gone up slightly over the past year: The median gross monthly salary of fresh poly graduates in full-time permanent employment went up by S$50 to S$1,850. For post-NS graduates, their salaries rose by S$100 to S$2,100.
The latest statistics were in contrast to those in the survey last year, which saw a spike in the proportion of poly graduates in full-time permanent employment between 2009 and 2010, when Singapore underwent a rapid recovery.
SIM University labour economist Randolph Tan noted that the latest survey findings "reflect the current state of the labour market where there is a weakening of employment opportunities".
He added that the situation would have been worse if the Government had not tightened the influx of foreign labour.
Said Dr Tan: "It is also due to lesser reliance on foreign manpower that has reduced the negative impact on tertiary graduates allowing fewer competitors in the job market."
Economists Today spoke to added that it is essentially an "employer's market" now, with fresh entrants to the workforce having less bargaining power in terms of starting pay.
UOB senior economist Alvin Liew felt that more contract job offers could be made, instead of full-time permanent employment. With industries such as manufacturing and finance facing a challenging outlook, he added that the public sector could see a better choice of candidates.
CIMB regional economist Song Seng Wun noted that the survey findings are "mildly encouraging despite the increased global uncertainty".
Even with the higher cost of living, he said that the relatively stable starting pay was due to lower expectations of employees in the current environment.
A recent poly graduate told Today that there were fewer full-time permanent opportunities in the video production market last year, as compared to 2010.
She took three months to land a job in the public sector last year and the pay was about S$500 less than what she got for contract work earlier with a company in the private sector.
Nevertheless, some poly graduates experienced better luck in the job market.
Ms Sharifah Salmah, 23, graduated from Ngee Ann Poly last year with a diploma in Banking and Financial Services. She is currently earning about S$3,000 as a client services executive at ANZ Private Bank.
Ms Sharifah, who is pursuing a part-time degree, said: "I was offered a permanent job midway into my internship and I decided to stay on .... I believe that even with the uncertain economic outlook, there is a greater need for financial planners as people want to know where to place their money."
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