3,600 fresh graduates still seeking work as professional roles rise

Graduate traineeship programmes will be extended to the 2026 cohort.

About 3,600 of approximately 18,000 recent graduates from Singapore’s autonomous universities were still seeking employment as of June 2026, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said.

The figure represented roughly one in five graduates from the latest cohort.

Of the remaining graduates, around 9,100 had found employment, whilst 5,400 were outside the labour force. MOM said most of those outside the labour force had voluntarily chosen to pursue further education or take a break before starting work.

The ministry disclosed the figures in Acting Minister for Manpower Jasmin Lau’s written response to a parliamentary question from Bukit Panjang MP Liang Eng Hwa on the availability of entry-level jobs and whether existing traineeship programmes should be expanded.

Entry-level professional, managerial, executive and technical (PMET) job openings increased slightly from 32,500 in December 2025 to 32,800 in March 2026.

MOM said fresh graduate employment outcomes had generally remained resilient. Separately, around nine in 10 university graduates from the 2025 cohort found employment within 12 months of graduation, broadly unchanged from previous cohorts.

The 12-month employment outcome for the 2025 cohort differs from the June snapshot of the latest group of graduates, many of whom had only recently completed their studies.

To support graduates entering a rapidly changing workplace, MOM is working with institutes of higher learning and industry partners to expand work-based learning opportunities, particularly in knowledge-intensive sectors experiencing faster artificial intelligence adoption.

Existing initiatives include the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s TechSkills Accelerator and AI Apprenticeship Programme, as well as the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Polytechnic Talent for Finance Scheme.

MAS also recently introduced the Young Talent Programme for AI in Finance, which provides students with applied AI and financial-sector skills sought by financial institutions.

MOM added that more than 550 trainees had been recruited for the 800 places available under the Graduate Industry Traineeships Programme as of end-June.

GRIT and GRIT@Gov, which provide graduates with industry-relevant skills and experience through traineeships, have been extended to the 2026 cohort. The government is prepared to make further enhancements to the programmes if necessary.

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