[h=1]POLY GRADS ARE FACING DECLINING REAL SALARIES AND DIFFICULTY FINDING EMPLOYMENT[/h]
Post date:
15 Jan 2015 - 10:45am
The job landscape is looking worse for polytechnic graduates.
Median salaries have remained stagnant and employment opportunities are also weakening, the latest Graduate Employment Survey released yesterday revealed.
Last year, median gross salary did not change at all. Median gross salaries remained at only $2,000 every month, but this is the same as what polytechnic graduates were earning in 2013.
In 2012, median gross salary was $1,950.
But prior to that, the median gross salary remained stagnant for several years as well. In 2008, it was $1,854 but by 2011, it actually dropped to $1,850.
But where inflation has been increasing faster than salaries, this mean that the real median gross salaries of polytechnic graduates have actually been dropping.
Core inflation is expected to increase by 2 to 2.5 percent this year whereas it was 1.7 percent in 2013 and 2.5 percent in 2012.
Thus not only does this mean that actual salaries of polytechnic graduates have remained stagnant, their real wages have fared even worse and have fallen.
With the lower value of their salaries, it is now more difficult for Singaporean polytechnic graduates to survive on their meagre salaries.
Professor Tommy Koh recently revealed that one-third of students in Singapore are living in poverty.
And when you look at the wage distribution, 30 percent of Singaporeans actually earn less than $2,000.
This thus means that a large part of Singaporean polytechnic graduates start work on poverty wages.
Where it has also been seen that salaries for polytechnic graduates and those who earn around $2,000 hardly pick up over their lifetime but would remain stagnant, this thus mean that polytechnic graduates are expected to live on poverty wages for the rest of their lives.
Where real wages have actually been declining, this means that many polytechnic graduates will only sink further and further into poverty. Where the outlook is already bleak for polytechnic graduates, it would be far worse for Singaporeans without even a polytechnic diploma.
Moreover, more polytechnic graduates have become unemployed this year.
In 2013, 89.8 percent of fresh polytechnic graduates would be employed but last year, this fell to 89.2 percent.
But this is the lowest in the last five years.
In 2010, the employment rate was 91.5 percent, it was 92.1 percent in 2011 and 91 percent in 2012.
Thus the employment rate for polytechnic graduates has actually been edging downwards.
Worse still, more and more polytechnic graduates have to languish into part-time jobs and full-time job opportunities have been harder and harder to come by.
In 2013, 62.7 percent of fresh graduates were able to find full-time jobs but this fell to only 59.4 percent last year.
But this has been dropping and dropping.
In 2010, 68 percent of fresh polytechnic graduates could find full-time jobs. It fell to 67 percent in 2011. It then fell even further to 65.4 percent in 2012.
In 2013, it fell steeply to 62.7 percent but by last year, it has gone below 60 percent - only 59.4 percent of fresh graduates were able to find full-time jobs.
Now, 29.8 percent have to settle with part-time jobs, even higher than the 27.1 percent in 2013.
In 2012, it was only 25.7 percent. It was a lower 25.1 percent in 2011 and even lower 23 percent in 2010.
But look at how many fresh polytechnic graduates are now forced to look for part-time jobs now.
Thus not only has the overall employment rate actually worsened, the fact that even more polytechnic graduates now have to also look for part-time jobs mean that the extent of the unemployment situation is actually worse off than is reported.
The government said that the recommendations made by the Applied Study in Polytechnics and ITE Review (ASPIRE) committee would enhance the skills of polytechnic graduates to enhance their job opportunities.
However, where polytechnic graduates are faced with having to accept low and stagnant wages, as well as poverty wages and where full-time job opportunities are now harder to come by and where polytechnic graduates have to face the uncertainty of job security, the government's recommendations are hardly useful.
This is especially since the government has been resistant towards increasing the salaries of polytechnic graduates and even with the committee's recommendations, it has refused to delve into increasing polytechnic graduates' salaries.
If so, the government is allowing the salaries of polytechnic graduates to stagnant and to decline and any talk about helping them enhance their skills and job opportunities is all talk and fluff.
Post date:
15 Jan 2015 - 10:45am
The job landscape is looking worse for polytechnic graduates.
Median salaries have remained stagnant and employment opportunities are also weakening, the latest Graduate Employment Survey released yesterday revealed.
Last year, median gross salary did not change at all. Median gross salaries remained at only $2,000 every month, but this is the same as what polytechnic graduates were earning in 2013.
In 2012, median gross salary was $1,950.
But prior to that, the median gross salary remained stagnant for several years as well. In 2008, it was $1,854 but by 2011, it actually dropped to $1,850.
But where inflation has been increasing faster than salaries, this mean that the real median gross salaries of polytechnic graduates have actually been dropping.
Core inflation is expected to increase by 2 to 2.5 percent this year whereas it was 1.7 percent in 2013 and 2.5 percent in 2012.
Thus not only does this mean that actual salaries of polytechnic graduates have remained stagnant, their real wages have fared even worse and have fallen.
With the lower value of their salaries, it is now more difficult for Singaporean polytechnic graduates to survive on their meagre salaries.
Professor Tommy Koh recently revealed that one-third of students in Singapore are living in poverty.
And when you look at the wage distribution, 30 percent of Singaporeans actually earn less than $2,000.
This thus means that a large part of Singaporean polytechnic graduates start work on poverty wages.
Where it has also been seen that salaries for polytechnic graduates and those who earn around $2,000 hardly pick up over their lifetime but would remain stagnant, this thus mean that polytechnic graduates are expected to live on poverty wages for the rest of their lives.
Where real wages have actually been declining, this means that many polytechnic graduates will only sink further and further into poverty. Where the outlook is already bleak for polytechnic graduates, it would be far worse for Singaporeans without even a polytechnic diploma.
Moreover, more polytechnic graduates have become unemployed this year.
In 2013, 89.8 percent of fresh polytechnic graduates would be employed but last year, this fell to 89.2 percent.
But this is the lowest in the last five years.
In 2010, the employment rate was 91.5 percent, it was 92.1 percent in 2011 and 91 percent in 2012.
Thus the employment rate for polytechnic graduates has actually been edging downwards.
Worse still, more and more polytechnic graduates have to languish into part-time jobs and full-time job opportunities have been harder and harder to come by.
In 2013, 62.7 percent of fresh graduates were able to find full-time jobs but this fell to only 59.4 percent last year.
But this has been dropping and dropping.
In 2010, 68 percent of fresh polytechnic graduates could find full-time jobs. It fell to 67 percent in 2011. It then fell even further to 65.4 percent in 2012.
In 2013, it fell steeply to 62.7 percent but by last year, it has gone below 60 percent - only 59.4 percent of fresh graduates were able to find full-time jobs.
Now, 29.8 percent have to settle with part-time jobs, even higher than the 27.1 percent in 2013.
In 2012, it was only 25.7 percent. It was a lower 25.1 percent in 2011 and even lower 23 percent in 2010.
But look at how many fresh polytechnic graduates are now forced to look for part-time jobs now.
Thus not only has the overall employment rate actually worsened, the fact that even more polytechnic graduates now have to also look for part-time jobs mean that the extent of the unemployment situation is actually worse off than is reported.
The government said that the recommendations made by the Applied Study in Polytechnics and ITE Review (ASPIRE) committee would enhance the skills of polytechnic graduates to enhance their job opportunities.
However, where polytechnic graduates are faced with having to accept low and stagnant wages, as well as poverty wages and where full-time job opportunities are now harder to come by and where polytechnic graduates have to face the uncertainty of job security, the government's recommendations are hardly useful.
This is especially since the government has been resistant towards increasing the salaries of polytechnic graduates and even with the committee's recommendations, it has refused to delve into increasing polytechnic graduates' salaries.
If so, the government is allowing the salaries of polytechnic graduates to stagnant and to decline and any talk about helping them enhance their skills and job opportunities is all talk and fluff.
