Slower Graduate Recruitment in Singapore 2025 – What Employers Need to Know

Introduction

The latest 2025 Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey (GES) has been released, revealing a cooling job market for Singapore’s fresh graduates. While the median gross monthly salary for those in full-time permanent employment has remained resilient at around S$4,500, the pace of hiring has noticeably slowed.

(Source: Graduate Employment Survey jointly conducted by NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD, SIT and SUSS)

For HR professionals and hiring managers, these statistics offer a vital pulse check on the entry-level talent landscape. Here is a breakdown of the key findings and what they mean for the year ahead.

The Numbers: Employment Rates on a Downward Trend According to the survey, 83.4% of fresh graduates in the labor force found employment within six months of their final exams in 2025. This marks a decline from 87.1% in 2024, continuing a downward trend that began after the post-pandemic hiring surge in 2022.

(Source: Graduate Employment Survey jointly conducted by NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD, SIT and SUSS)

More specifically:

• Full-time Permanent Employment: Only 74.4% of graduates secured full-time roles, down from 79.4% the previous year.
• Involuntary Part-time/Temp Work: There was a slight uptick in graduates taking on temporary roles out of necessity (3.1% vs. 2.3% in 2024).
• Unemployment: The proportion of graduates who had not secured any employment rose to 11.1%.

Why the Slowdown? The six autonomous universities (NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD, SIT, and SUSS) attributed this shift to a cautious hiring sentiment fueled by broader economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions.

Sectors that were once aggressive recruiters, such as Information & Communications, have seen more subdued activity. Additionally, as job vacancies moderate from their post-pandemic peaks, competition for entry-level PMET (Professional, Manager, Executive, and Technician) roles has intensified.

The Silver Lining: Salary Resilience Despite the tougher job-hunting environment, the price of fresh talent remains high. The median gross monthly salary held steady at around S$4,500. This suggests that while companies are hiring fewer people, they are still willing to pay a premium for quality graduates to stay competitive in the long term.

Strategic Insights for HR Leaders

1. Focus on Traineeships: With the government’s new Graduate Industry Traineeships scheme, employers have a unique opportunity to “test-drive” talent with subsidized support before committing to full-time headcount.
2. Long-term Outlook: History shows that graduate employment rates typically improve by the 12-month mark. HR departments should consider “off-cycle” hiring to tap into the pool of high-quality candidates who may have missed the initial six-month window.
3. Skills Over Degrees: As the market tightens, look for graduates who have proactively upskilled in AI and data analytics, as these remain the most resilient and high-paying niches (with median salaries in computing reaching up to S$7,500).

Conclusion

The 2025 graduate market is a “wait-and-see” environment. For employers, this is an opportune time to refine recruitment strategies, focusing on quality over quantity and leveraging government-backed schemes to build a robust talent pipeline for the future.