Including Input from Singaporeans Who Graduated Overseas in Fresh Graduates Employment Data

13 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether Singaporeans who graduated overseas were included in the fresh graduate employment data published by the Ministry in September 2025; (b) of these graduates who found employment, how many were underemployed; and (c) how have recent labour market conditions affected these graduates' employment outcomes.

The Minister for Manpower (Dr Tan See Leng): Mr Speaker, Sir, the fresh graduate employment figures published by the Ministry in September 2025 covered graduates from the local autonomous universities and did not include Singaporeans who graduated from overseas universities.

Based on the internationally recognised measure of time-related underemployment, which refers to part-time workers who prefer full-time employment, the underemployment rate among residents aged 25 to 29 who graduated from overseas universities was 0.8% in 2025. This is about 0.1%, slightly above the 0.7% recorded for graduates from local autonomous universities.

Overall, the employment outcomes for graduates aged 25 to 29, remain generally strong for both local autonomous universities and overseas universities graduates, with around nine in 10 employed. Even so, graduates from local autonomous universities continue to have slightly more favourable outcomes on balance, and this is reflected in their lower unemployment as well as higher median wages.

We will continue to support all of our fresh graduates' entry into the workforce. Students and fresh graduates from our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) can access Education and Career Guidance services within the IHLs. All students and fresh graduates, including those from overseas universities, may also make use of the career matching and coaching services offered by Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC's) Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).

Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have three quick supplementary questions. I thank the Minister for the answers.

The first supplementary question is whether the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) intends to publish overseas graduate employment outcomes separately on a regular basis and how the Ministry ensures that these graduates are not systematically under-represented in headline fresh graduate statistics.

The second supplementary question is whether existing graduate employment support schemes – I think Minister shared some of the schemes nationally – are adequately calibrated for overseas educated Singaporeans? And whether MOM has observed different placement or wage outcomes, compared to locally educated graduates?

The third one is mainly from a sectoral perspective. Whether weaker hiring conditions in certain sectors have disproportionately affected overseas educated graduates, who typically return to Singapore later or maybe earlier in the hiring cycle and separate from the autonomous universities graduates?

Dr Tan See Leng: I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. For his first point on publishing more data related to fresh graduates from overseas universities, MOM tracks as well as monitors the employment outcomes of graduates across various types of institutions and these include overseas universities, as well as our local private educational institutions. This is reflected through our comprehensive Labour Force Survey. The key findings from the survey are published in MOM's annual report on Labour Force in Singapore. We will continue to review the data collected and published, because we also want to be able to go sectorally and adopt a more differentiated and develop more precise and laser-focused insights into some of these problem areas.

For the second point, with regard to how well some of the overseas graduates are supported, we constantly work with the industry partners, with the advisory chambers and panels, as well as the trade associations and chambers, to calibrate many of our training, reskilling, upskilling policies. What we have seen from last year, which I want to share with Members, from the employment rate in 2025, the local autonomous universities graduates, as well as the overseas universities graduates, employment rate was at above 90%. The differential between overseas universities graduates versus the local autonomous universities graduates is just slightly over 1%.

If you look at the proportion of those in permanent employment – so we are talking again, juxtaposing the local university graduates versus the overseas university graduates – it is also above 90%. Again, that delta is 1%.

So, we do not think that at this particular point in time, that there are issues of concern between the two sets of graduates coming in. And moving forward, we will also be publishing which are the sectors that are still hiring. And we will try to show what the type of jobs graduates are looking for, versus the sectors that are hiring.

Very often, it is also about matching the expectations versus what is available. If I may also refer the Member to the Labour Market Advance Release for the fourth quarter in 2025 that we have just released, I believe it was last week. For the entire year, for 2025, the total employment growth, which is about 57,300, was stronger than a year ago, in 2024, which was about 44,500.

The unemployment rates in December of 2025 were broadly unchanged from a quarter before. And looking ahead, for this particular year, for the first quarter of 2026, business expectations suggest that the labour market will continue to expand, albeit amidst increased hiring caution. Another slight note of optimism, the share of firms expecting to hire in the next three months only edged down slightly – from 44% in September 2025, to 43% in December 2025.

But if you compare this at the same time, a larger share of firms expects to raise wages over the same period, rising from 19% to about 26%. So, actually, the market, notwithstanding the cautious optimism, does somewhat point to slightly improving business outcomes and continued competition for labour in certain areas. I hope that reassures the Member.