After finishing his postgraduate studies in May, Tan Kwan Ann expected the job hunt to be difficult, but not so disheartening.
The 33-year-old, who specialised in structural biology at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), sent out more than 600 applications while waiting for the formal conferment of his doctorate, but heard back from almost none of them.
“It seemed like I was excluded from society and made me feel very lousy. It made me question if it was my fault that I chose to further my studies, and whether I had become less employable,” Tan said.
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His experience reflects the growing unease among young Singaporeans entering a labour market where entry-level hiring has cooled noticeably – even as overall unemployment in Singapore remained low at about 2.0 per cent as of the third quarter of this year – amid global economic uncertainty and fears that artificial intelligence could outpace some jobs.
Against this backdrop, the government has rolled out subsidised traineeships as a stopgap for fresh graduates, while some young Singaporeans are choosing to sit out the search for traditional full-time roles altogether and carve out their own paths.
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According to statistics from the manpower ministry, the unemployment rate of residents aged below 30 saw a first-time increase last quarter in the city state, to 5.7 per cent in June from 5.4 per cent in March. It has since dipped to 5.5 per cent in September.
Overall job vacancies in Singapore fell to 69,200 in September from 76,900 in June, according to labour market statistics released earlier this month.