• More than 9 in 10 graduates were employed within six months of graduation, with 86.6% employed in full-time permanent jobs
• Higher starting salaries for the Class of 2022, with a mean gross monthly salary of $4,160 and a median gross monthly salary of $3,950

SIT graduates from the Class of 2022. (SIT Photo: Keng Photography/Tan Eng Keng)

Class of 2022 graduates from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) continue to achieve high employment rates and earn higher starting salaries. These results were unveiled in the annual Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey (JAUGES)^[1], conducted by SIT between 1 March and 14 May 2023. Of the 2,193 graduates across 35 degree programmes from SIT and its 8 Overseas University (OU) partners, 78.4%, or 1,719 graduates, participated in the survey^[2].

Healthy Starting Salaries and Employment Rates for Graduates

The survey showed that more than 9 in 10, or 91.6% of SIT graduates in the labour force^[3], were employed within six months of graduation. 86.6% secured full-time permanent (FTP) employment, a slight increase compared to the previous cohort. The mean gross monthly salary^[4] of SIT graduates in FTP employment rose to $4,160 in 2022 from $3,775 in 2021, while the median gross monthly salary of graduates in FTP employment was $3,950 in 2022, up from $3,550 in 2021.

SIT graduates have remained highly sought after by industries with strong demand for skilled talent. Graduates from the Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation, Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services)^[5], Diagnostic Radiography, and Naval Architecture degree programmes achieved 100% overall employment rate, while those from Hospitality Business, Pharmaceutical Engineering, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Nursing, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) (Information Security), ICT (Software Engineering) degree programmes achieved above 95% overall employment. The pioneer cohort of graduates from the Air Transport Management degree programme achieved a 90.0% overall employment rate.

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The ICT sector continues to be well-positioned for growth as the world becomes increasingly interconnected and reliant on digital technologies. Graduates from SIT’s ICT programmes continue to command higher wages. Fresh graduates in the Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation degree programme earned the most among their peers with a median monthly salary of $5,500. This was followed by ICT (Software Engineering) graduates who earned a median monthly salary of $5,200, and Computing Science graduates at $5,000.

Graduates from SIT’s Engineering degree programmes with ICT components also saw an increase in gross median monthly salaries. Systems Engineering (ElectroMechanical Systems)^[6] graduates earned a median monthly salary of $4,800, up from $4,370 in 2021. Telematics (Intelligent Transportation Systems Engineering)^[7] graduates commanded a median monthly salary of $4,688, up from $4,000 in 2021.

SIT graduates are hired across more than 40 industry sectors, with two in five receiving two to six FTP job offers. One in two SIT graduates received job offers from their Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP) companies before graduation, and of these, close to half accepted the offer.

SIT’s signature IWSP exemplifies the best of university-industry collaboration, where students are immersed in the real working world for up to 12 months, allowing them to gain practical job skills and be workforce-ready. Since its inception in 2014, the IWSP has expanded to cover all SIT and joint degree programmes, with over 1,800 students^[8] out in the industry for their work attachments in Academic Year 2022.

To prepare its graduates for a successful start to their careers, SIT supports graduating students through its Centre for Career Readiness, which organises career success workshops, recruitment talks, career fairs and career coaching sessions. In addition, from AY2022, all SIT students are required to complete a set of five blended ‘Career Readiness Micro-Modules' as part of the IWSP (Career Skills) requirements. Offered in a hybrid of classroom and online lessons, these micro-modules serve to impart career skills to prepare students in navigating IWSP and the workplace, encouraging students to have a growth mindset and be self-directed in their career development.

SIT President Professor Chua Kee Chaing said, “A hallmark of an SIT education is authentic and active learning that takes place in real-world environments. This is done through programmes like IWSP and enabled by our close collaborations with the industry. We are pleased that our graduates continue to be well-received by the industry, with many receiving advance job offers even before they graduate. This is a strong testament to our applied learning pedagogy and educational offerings."

Footnotes: 

[1] The JAUGES is conducted by the six Autonomous Universities (NTU, NUS, SIT, SMU, SUSS and SUTD) every year to survey the employment status of graduates around six months after the completion of their final examinations. Due to their different academic calendars, NUS, NTU, SMU and SUSS conduct their surveys in November each year, while SUTD and SIT conduct their surveys in February and March, respectively.

[2] Details on SIT’s degree programme-level results are available at https://www.moe.gov.sg/post-secondary/overview/autonomous-universities/sit.

[3] Graduates in the labour force refer to those who are working and those who are not working but actively looking and available for work.

[4] Gross monthly salary comprises the basic salary, fixed allowances, over-time pay, commissions and other regular cash payments, before deductions of the employee’s CPF contributions and personal income tax. Employer’s CPF contributions, bonuses, stock options, other lump sum payments, and payments-in-kind are excluded.

[5] The Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services) has been renamed to Sustainable Built Environment from Academic Year 2023 onwards.

[6] The Systems Engineering (ElectroMechanical Systems) programme has been renamed to Mechatronics Engineering from Academic Year 2021 onwards.

[7] The Telematics (Intelligent Transportation Systems Engineering) programme has been renamed to Computer Engineering with a specialisation in intelligent transportation from Academic Year 2021 onwards.

[8] The number excludes those from allied health and nursing degree programmes as these students undergo clinical placements across various clinical settings throughout their course of studies.