{"slug": "singapore-graduates-settle-for-half-pay-in-brutal-jobs-market", "title": "Singapore graduates settle for half pay in brutal jobs market", "summary": "Singapore graduates are accepting government-funded traineeships paying half the median starting salary as AI adoption and a hiring freeze erode entry-level jobs. The GRIT program offers S$1,800–S$2,400 monthly, below the median graduate pay and less than a McDonald's management trainee wage. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong warned that AI will eliminate some existing jobs.", "body_md": "# Singapore graduates settle for half pay in brutal jobs market\n\nWith AI eating entry-level roles and hiring on ice, a stopgap government scheme is the best some university leavers can get\n\n[Singapore](https://www.scmp.com/topics/singapore?module=inline&pgtype=article)are taking a last-ditch shot at getting ahead via temporary government-funded gigs that earn them half the median first pay cheque.\n\nThe government’s Graduate Industry Traineeships, known as GRIT, offer a stopgap for graduates to gain industry-relevant experience with government agencies or private businesses, earning between S$1,800 to S$2,400 (US$1,400 to US$1,850) per month. The lowest end of that range is less than half the median graduate’s starting salary and around two-thirds the wage of a McDonald’s management trainee, who needs only a pre-university diploma.\n\n“When I started the programme, I thought: ‘Shucks. I’ve finished four years of school and all I’ve got is a job that pays half of what my friends get’,” said Lee Jia En, a 25-year-old graduate from the Singapore University of Social Sciences. “But I felt it was worth it if it could help me get to my next job. So I said OK, let’s eat humble pie.”\n\nGovernments around the world have been labouring to prop up a sagging graduate jobs market amid a surge in artificial-intelligence adoption, a post-pandemic slowdown in hiring and lingering economic effects from the US-Israel war on Iran.\n\n[Lawrence Wong](https://www.scmp.com/topics/lawrence-wong?module=inline&pgtype=article)has warned that some existing jobs “will disappear” because of AI.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/singapore-graduates-settle-for-half-pay-in-brutal-jobs-market", "canonical_source": "https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3358581/singapore-graduates-settle-half-pay-brutal-jobs-market?utm_source=rss_feed", "published_at": "2026-06-27 03:18:30+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-27 03:41:43.014574+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Singapore", "Graduate Industry Traineeships", "GRIT", "Lawrence Wong", "Singapore University of Social Sciences", "Lee Jia En", "McDonald's"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/singapore-graduates-settle-for-half-pay-in-brutal-jobs-market", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/singapore-graduates-settle-for-half-pay-in-brutal-jobs-market.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/singapore-graduates-settle-for-half-pay-in-brutal-jobs-market.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/singapore-graduates-settle-for-half-pay-in-brutal-jobs-market.jsonld"}}