THE GRADUATE LABOUR MARKET IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

During the past few decades, the output of graduates has risen rapidly, especially in developing countries. In Singapore, the output of graduates has increased by almost 50 percent since 1985, from 4,011 graduates in 1985 to 5,987 graduates in 1991. There is a wide spectrum, and sometimes contradictory views on higher education. On the one hand, expansion of higher education is necessary to secure economic growth. On the other hand, there is also an increasing concern about the 'mismatch' between the increased supply of highly qualified labour and the demands of the labour market. Another cause for this concern is that more than half of these graduates emerged from disciplines where there is no clearly dominant occupation. All these have an impact on the employment prospects, the wage structure, as well as the mobility of these graduates. Much has been done on the studies of employment and wage characteristics of graduates in both developed and developing countries. However, there is a dearth of studies on the mobility of graduates in developing countries like Singapore. This Academic Exercise not only serves to explore the employment and wage aspects of the graduate labour market, but also the mobility aspect. It is done by utilizing results of the comparison between graduates and non-graduates, and of the comparison among graduates themselves. It is observed that graduates have a better chance of obtaining high-level jobs than workers with lower education. As expected, graduates do earn more than non-graduates. However, the wage differentials seem to be narrowing over time. The data also suggests that graduates' earnings appear to be less volatile than those of the secondary-educated workers. The incidence of unemployment seems to imply that graduates are facing higher unemployment rates than workers with lower education. However, a look at the duration of unemployment would indicate that most of this unemployment appears to be frictional unemployment. This implies high mobility among graduates as they are more fluid in adjusting to the changing dynamics of the economy. With regard to the different employment characteristics of graduates, professional degree holders tend to go into specific jobs that usually pertains to their area of studies. The general degree holders, on the other hand, tend to get employed in a wider range of jobs. The professional degree holders tend to earn higher starting salaries than the 'generalists'. However, it appears that general degree holders are more mobile than the professional degree holders.