‘Maybe they’re looking for S$10K starting pay’ — S’poreans say as ‘more graduates remain unemployed’ after finishing university

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans are responding to a recent report on the amount of time more fresh graduates allegedly spend unemployed after finishing university.

An online user took to an online group on Tuesday (Feb 21) to share a news headline stating that more graduates stayed unemployed for six months following their exit from their studies in 2022 but that median salaries are up.

The netizen attempted to clarify one point, writing, “Median salaries (being) up is only for those who have paying jobs right?” When the graduate is unemployed, where (do they) have (a) salary or income? Let alone (a) median…”

In response to this, some online users took to the comments section of the post to share their sentiments. “Good luck to the youth!” one said with a hint of sarcasm, “Don’t worry, our government will look after you a lot. They have set aside PH Driving jobs, food delivery jobs, hawkerpreneurship, security, F&B and cleaning jobs just for you guys.”

Others, however, jokingly suggested that a possible explanation could be related to recent news of Singapore youth sharing their salary expectations for when they step into employment.

“Maybe they’re looking for S$10K starting pay. And median of who? Median of millionaires?” wrote one online user.

“Not surprising, considering one recently interviewed potential graduate believing in a $10K starting salary,” said another.

Still, another wrote, “They took longer to get a high pay job–is it what you’re trying to tell us? Haha…salary is 50k per month?” while one user simply said, “No experience, (expect) high pay.”