Employment Vulnerability (EV) of Tertiary Graduates in Singapore

Dr Ruby Toh, Assoc Prof Philippe Blanchard, Prof James P Sampson Jr, Dr Julie Falcon, Ms Chia Ying

 


While most workers maintain stable employment over their career, an increasing proportion of tertiary graduates (i.e. those with polytechnic diploma and above) have been experiencing worsening employment outcomes even before the pandamic. These individuals face difficulties gaining employment or re-employment, and may be entrenched in short-term or casual work earning low incomes. 


This study seeks to provide further understanding on employment vulnerability (EV) in Singapore, by examining the extent to which individuals experience EV, the nature of EV, the role that individuals and employers play in mitigating EV, and suggest possible intervention measures that can help to mitigate EV. Time-ordered sequential information is collected over an individual's work life span since graduation, on a multitude of variables that may affect employment or career decisions. The survey is implemented on a large nationally representative sample with a focus on individuals with diploma and higher education who are unemployed or left the labour force due to inability to find work.