Average and Median Starting Monthly Salaries for ITE, Polytechnic and University Graduates

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower for ITE, polytechnic and university students who graduated in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively (a) what were their average and median starting monthly salaries; (b) what were their average and median monthly salaries five years after their year of graduation; and (c) whether the Ministry will start collecting such data on post-graduation salaries, as requested in (b), if it does not already collect it on a regular basis.

Mrs Josephine Teo: Based on the annual Graduate Employment Survey (GES) conducted by the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), the reported median gross monthly starting salaries of ITE, Polytechnic and Autonomous University (AU) graduates in full-time permanent employment from 2008 to 2012 are given in Table 1 .

The GES does not track graduates’ salaries by cohort five years after their graduation. However, the median gross monthly income of full-time employed residents is available from MOM’s Comprehensive Labour Force Survey (CLFS). The majority of fresh graduates from IHLs would be in their mid- to late-20s five years after leaving school. Table 2 shows the median gross monthly income from 2013 to 2017 of full-time employed residents aged 25 to 29 – those with post-secondary non-tertiary qualifications (i.e. ITE or equivalent), diploma and professional qualifications (i.e. polytechnic or equivalent) and degree qualifications.

To give us more insights into their employment and income, MOM and MOE are exploring tracking graduates’ salaries by cohort over a longer period of time.