{"id":64321,"date":"2026-06-28T04:24:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T20:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=64321"},"modified":"2026-06-28T04:24:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T20:24:01","slug":"singapore-graduates-settle-for-half-pay-in-brutal-jobs-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=64321","title":{"rendered":"Singapore graduates settle for half pay in brutal jobs market"},"content":{"rendered":"


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As the class of 2026 join the race to find jobs, unemployed college graduates in Singapore<\/span><\/a> are taking a last-ditch shot at getting ahead via temporary government-funded gigs that earn them half the median first pay cheque.<\/div>\n

The government\u2019s Graduate Industry Traineeships, known as GRIT, offer a stopgap for graduates to gain industry-relevant experience with government agencies or private businesses, earning between S$1,800 to S$2,400 (US$1,400 to US$1,850) per month. The lowest end of that range is less than half the median graduate\u2019s starting salary and around two-thirds the wage of a McDonald\u2019s management trainee, who needs only a pre-university diploma.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started the programme, I thought: \u2018Shucks. I\u2019ve finished four years of school and all I\u2019ve got is a job that pays half of what my friends get\u2019,\u201d said Lee Jia En, a 25-year-old graduate from the Singapore University of Social Sciences. \u201cBut I felt it was worth it if it could help me get to my next job. So I said OK, let\u2019s eat humble pie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Governments around the world have been labouring to prop up a sagging graduate jobs market amid a surge in artificial-intelligence adoption, a post-pandemic slowdown in hiring and lingering economic effects from the US-Israel war on Iran.<\/p>\n

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Cargo ships are seen in the Singapore Strait on June 1. Economic headwinds run especially strong in the trade dependent, energy importing city state. Photo: AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Those headwinds run especially strong in trade dependent, energy importing Singapore. \u201cHeightened uncertainty\u201d has made businesses in the city state more cautious about hiring, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said in May. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong<\/span><\/a> has warned that some existing jobs \u201cwill disappear\u201d because of AI.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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