NUS graduates sustain strong employment prospects and achieve higher starting salaries

• Higher starting salaries[1] for graduates from 35 courses, with 21 courses seeing significant increases of 10 per cent or more
• 100 per cent employment for graduates from Dentistry, Engineering Science and Nursing (Honours); >99 per cent employment for Accountancy (Honours) and Real Estate graduates
• More than nine in 10 graduates from courses in Arts and Social Sciences, Business, Computing, Design & Engineering, Nursing and Science employed within six months of completing their final exams
• More than nine in 10 graduates from Architecture, Law and Pharmacy employed after completing practical training, practical law course, pupillage, and pre-registration training

Graduates of the National University of Singapore (NUS) continued to achieve high employment rates and earned higher starting salaries in 2022, according to the Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey (JAUGES) 2022.

The JAUGES 2022 was jointly conducted by NUS and the other Autonomous Universities.

Professor Bernard Tan, NUS Senior Vice Provost (Undergraduate Education), said, "In the face of a volatile and complex Industry 4.0 world, NUS seeks to help our students future-proof themselves with the essential knowledge and skills to navigate the disruptions that characterise the modern workplace. We are very proud that our graduates continue to enjoy strong employment outcomes and command competitive salaries, both in Singapore and globally, especially given the current worldwide economic slowdown. This demonstrates that our rigorous interdisciplinary university education equips them with the necessary agility and adaptability to excel in their chosen careers.”

“As the future of work continues to evolve, our graduates must be prepared to reskill and upskill continuously, across a wide range of areas, throughout their careers. Through our suite of experiential and lifelong learning offerings, NUS remains committed to helping our graduates develop their resilience, innovativeness and industry-relevant skillsets, so they can be better prepared for the changing demands of the labour market, and be able to capitalise on strategic opportunities in the future economy,” he added.

More than nine in 10 NUS fresh graduates employed within six months after final exams

5,554 out of a total of 7,430 full-time fresh NUS graduates from the Class of 2022, and 531 out of 824 follow-up[2] NUS graduates, participated in the joint survey.

Among NUS fresh graduates in the labour force, 93.9 per cent were employed within 6 months of completing their final exams, a slight dip from 94.1 per cent in the 2021 survey. However, the percentage of NUS fresh graduates who secured full-time permanent employment[3] within the same period rose by 3.3 percentage points. Another 2.7 per cent of NUS fresh graduates in the labour force have either accepted a job offer and are pending commencement of duty, or are actively starting a business venture.

Fresh graduates from Dentistry, Engineering Science, and Nursing (Honours) achieved 100 per cent employment, while 99.3 per cent of Accountancy (Honours) majors and 99.0 per cent of Real Estate majors secured jobs. More than nine in 10 fresh NUS graduates in the labour force from courses in Arts and Social Sciences, Business, Computing, Design and Engineering[4], Nursing and Science were employed within six months of completing their final exams.

More than nine in 10 follow-up graduates from Architecture, Law and Pharmacy who completed their practical training, practical law course, pupillage, and pre-registration training, were employed within six months of completing their final exams.

NUS graduates in full-time permanent employment earned higher starting salaries

The survey also revealed that the mean gross monthly salary of NUS fresh graduates in full-time permanent employment was S$4,808 in 2022, higher than S$4,258 in 2021.

The median gross monthly salary of fresh graduates from NUS in full-time permanent employment also increased from S$3,850 in 2021, to S$4,300 in 2022.

Graduates from 35 courses in Arts and Social Sciences, Business, Computing, Design and Engineering, Law, Nursing, Science, and Music achieved improvements in starting salaries.

Please refer to the Annex for the list of courses in which graduates have achieved higher starting salaries compared to 2021.

Embarking on their careers with purpose and panache

Mr Quek Yee Hsien graduated with a Double Degree in Electrical Engineering and Economics, completing a rigorous double degree programme (DDP) in seven semesters ahead of the usual nine, where he achieved Honours with Highest Distinction.

Yee Hsien credited the exposure afforded by the University in helping him identify his eventual career choice. Specifically, he cited how the broad range of concepts covered in his foundational year at NUS – from microcontroller programming to signals and systems – helped him decide which aspect of Engineering to pursue.

Yee Hsien soon found his niche in robotics. The Robotics Specialisation, first introduced by NUS in 2019, is a multi-disciplinary programme that allows students to acquire critical knowledge and experience in robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence. He reflected on how his coursework on kinematics, dynamics and Robotic Operating Systems (ROS) was directly relevant to his current role as a robotics software engineer in Hope Technik, an established home-grown and technology-focused Small and Medium Enterprise (SME).

“I have benefitted greatly from the wide range of opportunities offered by NUS which helped me identify my strengths and discover my career aspirations. For instance, I appreciated the chance to pursue a double degree programme, and specialise in Robotics. I can see how my coursework is directly applicable to my work as a software engineer for a robotics firm. The interactions I have had with my professors and fellow students were an invaluable part of my undergraduate education that sharpened my knowledge and skills as a young engineer, and perhaps more crucially, also gave me the confidence to pursue a career in robotics,’ said Yee Hsien.

As a Sociology graduate, Syasya Norhisham’s main takeaway from her university classes was the importance of structural change – that solutions can be found within social structures of society. Inspired by a robust curriculum that emphasises the analysis and deconstruction of social issues, Syasya’s interest in the social work sector was piqued, and she was convinced that a job role in the sector could enable her to become part of the solution for social issues, which can be complex and interconnected but rewarding.

Syasya now plays an active role in the social work sector as an Associate in Community Matters at the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), where she is involved in building fundraising networks in Singapore and supporting non-profit organisations in their activities. Her former roles as Vice-Captain of NUS Silat and Programmes Executive in the NUS Muslim Society also honed her skills in working with matrixed teams and connecting with people of various backgrounds while managing projects, which have come in essential in her current job.

“NUS Sociology has equipped me with learning tools and given me insight into how complex and interconnected social issues are,” said Syasya. “It has also encouraged me to join the social services to give back to society and help others do good. I am very thankful for the career guidance and support that my career counsellors at the NUS Centre for Future-ready Graduates have given me, which helped me realise my career aspirations.”

[1] Starting salary refers to graduates’ median gross monthly salary.

[2] Follow-up graduates refer to those from the Architecture Class of 2019, who took part in the survey upon completion of their practical training, and graduates from Law, Medicine, and Pharmacy courses, who took part in the survey after completing their one-year practical law course, pupilage or housemanship/first-year residency/pre-registration training upon completion of their studies in 2021.

[3] Full-time permanent employment refers to the number of graduates working on a full-time permanent basis, as a proportion of graduates in the labour force (i.e. those who were working, or not working but actively looking and available for a job).

[4] In November 2021, the College of Design and Engineering was established, bringing together the Faculty of Engineering and School of Design and Environment.