Local questions state of job market as fresh NUS grads reject jobs paying under $5K

SINGAPORE: A local recently took to social media to question whether Singapore’s job market is truly in dire straits, after discovering that two of his friends — both fresh National University of Singapore (NUS) graduates — had turned down job offers that paid below S$5,000 a month.

Although news headlines often highlight that there is a rising unemployment among graduates, he said his peers seemed confident enough to reject positions they deemed ‘underpaying.’ 

Apart from the salary, his friends also rejected the offers because they claimed the roles lacked the usual “big tech perks such as remote work or fancy pantry snacks.”

“[These] reasons seemed pretty trivial, yet they keep complaining that the job market is very bad. Now they’re saying they rather remain jobless than take up traineeships, which to them is an insult to the prestige of Computer Science,” the local said.

“To me, it looks more like they’re being picky rather than the market being tough, so is the job market really that bad, especially for fresh graduates?”

“Your friends are not thinking.”

In the comments, many told the local that “both things can be true.” His friends may indeed be being picky, but the market is also tough. Some argued that Computer Science graduates often benchmark themselves against the salaries and perks of multinational tech companies, which may skew their expectations when applying to smaller firms.

Others explained that his friends may have formed their expectations based on the past, when the tech industry was booming and fresh graduates were easily landing lucrative offers with attractive benefits.

“All these uni grads went in with the mindset that they will be paid big bucks when they grad, and there is an echo chamber telling them that they will always have high value as long as they have a CS degree,” one user said. 

“No surprise that once the industry has stopped booming, these people will struggle to come to terms with reality. Plus, not everyone who graduates will get the best jobs. Most will have to settle for less.”

Another commented, “Your friends are not thinking. Even with a smaller $$ figure, they can gain experience and hop… rejecting it means they forever at 0 while peers who have accepted that ‘low paying’ role may have either had increment or job hop.”

A third wrote, “It’s both, but in this case, I’d say it leans more towards them being too picky. They are already lucky enough to get offers right now, when most companies would prefer to just hire some random cheap offshore developer from India, Vietnam, etc.”

A fourth added, “Job market is always bad for people who are inexperienced yet not humble enough to take entry-level roles.”

In other news, a man took to social media to share that his girlfriend often gets upset when he spends time with friends or chooses to do activities on his own.

He explained in his post on the r/sgdatingscene that while he has made repeated efforts to include her in his social life, whether by inviting her to gatherings or suggesting new activities, she consistently turns him down. 

According to him, she usually “gives excuses,” such as suddenly feeling unwell, and has never once accepted his invitations.

Read more: Man confused as GF gets upset when he spends time with friends or does activities alone