Study in Singapore

Wednesday, 8 August 2012

Fresh grads get higher starting salaries in Singapore: survey

Fresh grads get higher starting salaries: survey
By Gail Chai | Yahoo! Newsroom – Mon, Aug 6, 2012

It seems like the global economic uncertainty has not affected the starting salary of fresh graduates.

Fresh graduates in Singapore this year have been offered a higher starting salary compared to those who graduated in 2011, according to human resources consulting firm Hay Group in a press statement last week.

In the “Fresh Graduate Pay Survey 2012” conducted by Hay Group,

it was found that the average starting monthly pay for university graduates increased by 1 per cent to 3 per cent this year and that includes degree holders without Honors and with Honors, second upper and higher.

Those without Honors drew S$2, 678 while those with second upper Honors and higher drew S$2, 766 and S$2, 882 respectively.

According to the survey, which covered 79 companies across general industries in Singapore, engineering jobs ranked the highest in terms of starting pay, providing fresh grads a monthly average starting salary of $2, 777 for those without Honors.

Jobs in research & development and merchandise operations ranked second and third, with the grads earning S$2, 764 and S$ 2, 742 a month, respectively.

Only 21 per cent MBAs in India are employable: study

Only 21 per cent MBAs in India are employable: study
Press Trust of India | Updated: August 07, 2012 19:15 IST
The employability of management graduates in India has declined in the past five years, as only 21 per cent of MBAs surveyed are 'employable', a study has said.

According to the MBAUniverse.com-MeriTrac Employability Study 2012, which covered 2,264 MBAs from 29 cities and 100 B-Schools,

beyond the top 25, only 21 per cent are employable.

The previous study of 2007 by MeriTrac had placed employability at 25 per cent.

However, the number of MBA seats in India has grown almost four-fold—from 94,704 in 2006-07 to 3,52,571 in 2011-12—resulting in a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent, but their employability rates have fallen, the study said.

The students were tested for verbal ability, quantitative ability and reasoning by using internationally standardized tests on behalf of recruiting companies.

The index of employability, at 21 per cent mark, leaves scope for improvement considering that organizations hire from this talent pool for strategic roles and this is the managerial pool that companies bank on, the study pointed out.

"This report clearly brings out the employability gaps across various competencies and highlights the need for scientific examinations and tests to align the candidate skills to employability metrics," MeritTrac Services India CEO and director S. Murlidhar said.

Overall average percentage score obtained by MBAs in verbal ability, quantitative ability and reasoning was 52.58 per cent, 41.17 per cent and 37.51 per cent, respectively.

While performance on verbal ability seems to be satisfactory, reasoning is an area where there is scope for improvement. Considering that the elements of the reasoning test are crucial to making sound management decisions, this is a result which warrants closer attention, the study noted.

"Questions are asked about the talent coming out of MBA colleges, and whether they create a workforce responsive to the needs of the economy like understanding of business and on-the-feet thinking. So, decision-making skills are being valued more than ever," MBAUniverse.com chairman Amit Agnihotri said.