Higher starting salaries for polytechnic graduates in Singapore in 2023

Amongst those in full-time permanent employment, the median gross monthly salary increased from S$2,600 in 2022 to S$2,800 in 2023.

In 2023, more than nine in 10 (92.7%) polytechnic graduates in Singapore were employed in the labour force within six months of graduation or after completion of full-time National Service (NS) — a comparable increase from the 91.8% in 2022. Amongst those in full-time permanent employment, the median gross monthly salary increased from S$2,600 in 2022 to S$2,800 in 2023.

To get a better gauge of employment outcomes for polytechnic graduates in Singapore, the 2023 Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey (GES) saw 8,065 out of 10,757 fresh graduates in 2023 responding.

As of 1 October 2023 – around six months after graduation, 50.4% of the respondents were in the labour force. Of the remaining, 49% were pursuing or preparing to begin further studies (hence were not actively looking for jobs), while most of the other 0.7% said that they were taking a break and were not seeking employment.

Looking at the 5,914 polytechnic graduates in the labour force:

• 59.8% were in full-time permanent employment,
• 28.0% were in part‐time/temporary employment, and
• 3.1% had either accepted a job offer or were actively starting a business venture.

Similar to previous years, a majority of the polytechnic graduates in part-time/temporary employment did so voluntarily, with about half concurrently pursuing or preparing to begin further studies.

The median gross monthly salaries of graduates continue to increase across all course clusters, relative to the previous years’ graduating class. Notably, the median gross monthly salary of graduates from engineering, health sciences, humanities & social sciences, and information & digital technologies were comparable or higher than the overall median for all graduates.

Lead image / Republic Polytechnic's Facebook page