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A survey conducted by the manpower ministry in 2025 revealed that around one in three university graduates rejected job offers as the wages were too low. Fresh graduates may need to moderate their salary expectations as wage growth this year is expected to vary across sectors amid global economic uncertainty.
Around one in three university graduates rejected job offers as the wages were too low, according to a survey conducted by the manpower ministry in 2025.
Fresh university graduates may need to moderate their salary expectations as wage growth this year is expected to vary across sectors amid global economic uncertainty, said analysts. This comes after findings from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM)’s School-to-Work Transition Study showed that graduates across most disciplines earn less than they had expected when entering the workforce. The survey, conducted in 2025, polled about 2,500 Singapore resident graduates aged 22 to 28 who held at least a bachelor’s degree.
It examined employment outcomes and early career experiences, including salary expectations, to better understand how graduates transition from education to employment. According to the study, the most common reason university graduates turned down a job offer was low pay, with 30.6 per cent of respondents saying so. Other reasons included a lack of interest in the role, an unsuitable work environment, and limited opportunities for career advancement.
The gap between graduates’ expected and real salaries will be reduced in the coming years due to the more challenging job environment. Nominal wages of full-time resident employees grew at a slower pace in 2025 than in the previous year, according to the latest MOM data released last Thursday (May 28). Analysts said this could require graduates to recalibrate their expectations or risk prolonging their job search.
Prolonged mismatches between expectations and available opportunities could contribute to underemployment, where workers take on roles that do not fully utilise their skills. This could have implications for hiring timelines and how quickly young workers enter the workforce. The stable path is no longer stable: How job uncertainty is nudging some fresh graduates to start businesses.
While MOM expects wages to continue rising this year, it has cautioned that employers are likely to be more conservative with salary increases due to global uncertainty and inflationary pressures. Nominal wages of full-time resident employees grew at a slower pace in 2025 than in the previous year, according to the latest MOM data released last Thursday (May 28). Analysts said this could require graduates to recalibrate their expectations or risk prolonging their job search
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