There are around 30,000 entry-level jobs available for fresh graduates, noted Dr Tan during a visit to CapitaLand Group’s Tanjong Pagar headquarters. He said the company operates in sectors such as real estate and fund management that continue to be hiring for roles like operation planners and quantity surveyors.
A list provided by the MOM showed 4,270 top entry-level job vacancies across 15 sectors as of June 2025. These top entry-level PMET vacancies were defined as roles with a salary range of S$2,300 (US$1,802) to S$5,000.
Sectors with the biggest number of vacancies include public administration and education, health and social services, construction, as well as information and communications.
For example, in the public administration and education sector, there are 510 job openings for research and development managers and 350 vacancies for research officers, based on data collated by the MOM through its surveys, job advertisement sites and the Workforce Singapore’s MyCareersFuture portal.
In response to a question on the traineeship programme, Dr Tan said local tertiary education institutions are doing a good job to prepare graduates for the working world.
But the world is also “moving at a breakneck speed” with job requirements evolving quickly, he said, citing the rapid development of AI as an example.
“The whole idea of adding the graduate (traineeship) programme is to provide an added buffer of exposure for them to build networks and immerse themselves with industry experts on the job, for them to also (be aware) of the pace of the transformation is happening,” said the minister.
“We should view it as an intermediate step to bring them and ease them into the working world.”
He added that compared to previous years, there are an additional 2,400 fresh graduates entering the job market this year. This could be due to uncertainties around the global economy, which has led to more fresh graduates deciding to enter the workforce instead of pursuing further studies or taking a gap year.
The traineeship programme, alongside other initiatives such as job fairs organised by various agencies, will aim to provide “significant, broad-based support” for all fresh graduates.
“At the same time … if the next quarter and the first quarter of 2026, things continue to worsen, we have drawer plans in place that we will activate to support fellow Singaporeans,” said Dr Tan.