Despite current lower hiring demand, the latest graduate employment survey showed that graduates of Singapore Management University (SMU) remained in high demand, with an 89.8 per cent overall employment rate and 83.4 per cent full-time permanent employment rate.
The university’s graduates also commanded higher wages, with the average gross monthly salary rising to $5,057 – a 3.4 per cent increase from the figure in 2024. Their median gross salary also increased from $4,500 to $4,600.
The figures showed that SMU graduates were sought after in the finance, legal, accounting, and information and communication sectors, reflecting sustained employer demand across key industries.
The Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey, released on Feb 24, was jointly conducted by SMU and the other five autonomous universities in Singapore.
SMU, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025, said its industry-centric education and mandatory internship programme have played a pivotal role in preparing its students for the workforce.
Of the 2024 cohort, close to 80 per cent completed more than one internship, with an average of 2.8 internships per student. The survey found that 31.6 per cent of graduates who found full-time permanent employment had secured roles at the companies they interned with.
SMU provost Timothy Clark said: “SMU’s graduate success is no accident – it is the result of an education model designed for relevance and lifelong impact. Our emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, experiential internships and close industry collaboration ensures our graduates are not just job-ready, but future-ready.
“The strong employment outcomes reaffirm SMU’s role as a university that produces distinctive, adaptable, purpose-driven, high-calibre talent, well prepared to navigate a rapidly evolving global economy.”
Mr Foo Yong Li, 26, who graduated from SMU’s School of Accountancy and Business Management, was just one of many students who benefited from diverse internships.
Now a management associate at Citi’s wealth business, Mr Foo’s first exposure to finance came through an internship at Enterprise Singapore, where he worked on fund management in the public sector. He later took a leap into cloud technology sales through SMU’s Global Innovation Immersion programme, interning at a Google Cloud partner in Jakarta, which introduced him to sales, business development and cross-border collaboration in the tech space.
His ability to thrive in different environments was further strengthened by a global exchange stint at King’s College London and an immersive Mandarin-language internship with Asus China, where he worked on marketing and branding entirely in Chinese.
He said: “SMU’s emphasis on industry engagement and an entrepreneurial mindset gave me the confidence to take on new challenges, from internships across diverse industries to global opportunities. From case competitions to working on real-world business problems, every experience sharpened my ability to think critically and adapt quickly.”
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