High Starting Salaries for SUTD’s Pioneer Batch of Graduates

28 Mar 2016
  • Graduates in full-time permanent employment1 earn competitive salaries, earning a mean gross monthly salary of $3,709 and a median gross monthly salary of $3,600
  • 85% of SUTD’s fresh graduates in the labour force found jobs within six months of completing their final examinations

 
Singapore, 28 March 2016 – The pioneer batch of graduates from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has been well received by industry, enjoying good overall employment rates2 and competitive salaries in 2016. These are based on the results of the annual Joint Graduate Employment Survey conducted by SUTD and four other autonomous universities – Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Technology and Singapore Management University. This is the first time SUTD students have participated in the Joint Graduate Employment Survey.
 
In August 2015, SUTD graduated its first batch of students, of which 37% are made up of females. Around 86% of SUTD’s pioneer cohort of 298 fresh graduates participated in the survey which took place from mid-February to March 2016. 
 
The survey revealed that 85% of SUTD’s fresh graduates in the labour force were employed within six months of completing their final examinations, with the top hiring sectors being the research and development and the infocomm services industries.
 
The mean and median gross monthly salaries of SUTD’s engineering graduates employed in full-time permanent employment were $3,729, and $3,600 respectively. In particular, the median gross monthly salary for SUTD’s Information Systems Technology and Design graduates was $3,950.
 
SUTD president, Professor Thomas Magnanti said: “We are very pleased that our technology and design-trained pioneer students who have taken a bold step to join a new university with a revolutionary pedagogy have been so well received by the industry. A high percentage of our graduates obtained employment in 22 out of 25 of Singapore’s key industries3, including banking and finance, aviation and aerospace engineering and infocomm services, to name a few. Employers have also expressed their confidence in them through the very competitive starting remuneration they have received – a strong testament that the multidisciplinary hands-on education they acquired at SUTD is valuable in the workplace. As of 15 March 2016, more than 90% students have been gainfully employed or are pursuing graduate studies in top institutions around the world. We look forward to SUTD graduates building upon their education to better the world.”
 



Full-time permanent employment refers to employment of at least 35 hours a week and where the employment is not temporary. It includes those on contracts of one year or more.

The overall employment rate includes all types of full-time, part-time and temporary employment, as well as self-employment. It refers to the number of employed graduates as a proportion of graduates in the labour force (i.e. those who were working or not working but actively looking and available for work), approximately 6 months after completion of final examinations.

This was based on the Economic Development Board’s list of Singapore’s industries and emerging business sectors.
 

More about the Graduate Employment Survey 2015