Singapore graduates settle for half pay in brutal jobs market

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.

Singapore graduates settle for half pay in brutal jobs market With AI eating entry-level roles and hiring on ice, a stopgap government scheme is the best some university leavers can get 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. The 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. “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.” Governments 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. Lawrence Wong https://www.scmp.com/topics/lawrence-wong?module=inline&pgtype=article has warned that some existing jobs “will disappear” because of AI.