Reasons for Increase in Unemployment Rate of Fresh Polytechnic Graduates and Plans to Address Youths' Career Expectations

Ms See Jinli Jean asked the Minister for Education in respect of the Graduate Employment Survey for 2024 by the five polytechnics (a) what are the likely reasons for the rise in unemployment rate of fresh polytechnic graduates by five percentage points; and (b) how does the Ministry plan to respond to this finding.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the Ministry's assessment on the employment outlook of fresh polytechnic graduates; (b) what are the reasons for fewer fresh polytechnic graduates landing full-time permanent jobs in 2024 as indicated in the Graduate Employment Survey 2024 by the five polytechnics; and (c) how many fresh graduates pursue further education upon their graduation in 2024.

My response will cover the matters raised in the questions by Dr Wan Rizal1, Ms See Jinli Jean, Mr Leong Mun Wai2, Mr Liang Eng Hwa, Mr Pritam Singh and Ms Foo Mee Har3, which are scheduled for the Sittings on and after 4 February 2025. [Please refer to "Assessment of Employment Landscape for Polytechnic Graduates in 2025", Official Report, 4 February 2025, Vol 95, Issue 150, Oral Answers to Questions section.]

If need be, I invite these Members to seek clarifications following my response.

Employment rates are affected by various factors, such as the economic and labour market conditions. Some fluctuations from year to year are to be expected. More importantly, we must continue to monitor and respond to the secular trends, beyond the cyclical fluctuations, that may affect the employability of our graduates.

While the labour market remained tight in 2024, with job vacancies remaining higher than pre-pandemic levels, 2024 saw lower hiring demand and fewer vacancies compared to 2023, which might have contributed to the survey findings for 2024. Based on the 2024 Graduate Employment Survey conducted by the five polytechnics, about 45% of graduates were economically active. Among this group, there was a decrease in the full-time permanent employment rate and an increase in the unemployment rate as compared to 2023. The impact was uneven across course clusters. Some course clusters, such as health sciences, and humanities and social sciences, continued to see strong employment outcomes. Graduates from course clusters, such as engineering, and information and digital technologies, had higher unemployment rates and this could be due to cyclical sectoral changes, such as the downturn in the tech sector, which also affected hiring demand.

We have also observed that some graduates have received full-time permanent job offers but have rejected them for various reasons, including a perceived lack of work-life balance or the offered pay not meeting their expectations. We will continue to monitor if this trend persists and if it has a longer-term impact on graduates' employment outcomes.

The polytechnics will continue to equip students with the necessary and in-demand skills and competencies by working closely with industry partners to ensure that their curriculum remain relevant and responsive to the evolving job market demands, as well as to provide quality internship opportunities for students. The polytechnics further support students by providing Education and Career Guidance as part of the curriculum, which includes resume writing and interview skills training. Those who require more support in finding a job can also tap on the career matching services and digital resources offered by Workforce Singapore's and the National Trades Union Congress' Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).

For 2025, given global economic uncertainties, we will continue to monitor the situation closely together with the polytechnics and industry partners.