Starting salaries and employment rate of SIT graduates [Class of 2021]

The starting salaries were noted to exceed pre-pandemic levels, with both mean and median gross monthly salaries at "an all-time high."

According to the Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey (JAUGES) released today (9 September 2022), over nine in 10 (95.6%) fresh graduates from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) in the labour force gained employment within six months of graduation.

Particularly, 86% of these class of 2021 graduates secured full-time permanent (FTP) jobs — a 16.2% increase as compared to the previous cohort.

Significant recovery was observed for graduates in the tourism and built environment sectors, which had been heavily impacted by COVID-19. Hospitality business, civil engineering, and sustainable infrastructure engineering (building services) graduates achieved FTP employment, ranging from 80.3% to 96.1%. This was an improvement of between 11.5 to 32.4% from the previous cohort.

Meanwhile, the pioneer cohort of the aircraft systems engineering programme, as well as graduates of the information and communications technology (ICT) (information security), information and communications technology (software engineering), marine engineering, naval architecture, and systems engineering (electromechanical systems) programmes have achieved 100% employment.

Graduates of the three SIT-conferred allied health programmes in diagnostic radiography, occupational therapy, and radiation therapy also achieved 100% employment, while those from the SIT-Trinity College Dublin physiotherapy programme achieved 97.9% overall employment.

In terms of earnings, starting salaries of SIT graduates were also noted to exceed pre-pandemic levels, with both mean and median gross monthly salaries at an all-time high:

• The mean gross monthly salary of SIT graduates in FTP employment was S$3,755, an increase over the previous year’s salary of S$3,675.
• At the same time, the median gross monthly salary of graduates in FTP employment was S$3,550, also up from S$3,500 in 2020.

Graduates from the ICT programmes continue to command higher wages:

• Fresh graduates in the ICT (software engineering) programme earned the most among their peers with a median monthly salary of S$5,000.
• This was followed by ICT (information security) graduates who earned a median monthly salary of S$4,950, and computer science in real-time interactive simulation graduates at S$4,600.

Graduates from engineering programmes with ICT components also saw an increase in gross median monthly salaries:

• Systems engineering (electromechanical systems) graduates earned a median monthly salary of S$4,370, up from S$4,185 in 2020.
• Meanwhile, graduates from the electrical engineering and information technology programme commanded a median monthly salary of S$3,700, up from S$3,600 in 2020.

For the full table, click here. 

Commenting on the above, SIT President Professor Chua Kee Chaing said: "We are heartened that the employment outcomes have rebounded and even exceeded pre-COVID levels. Employers continue to express confidence in our students through advanced job offers, even before they graduate – a strong testament to our applied learning pedagogy and programmes."

Image / Shutterstock

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