Early-career continuity is a competitive advantage

EMPLOYERS across Singapore face a familiar paradox. The job market is tight, yet many young graduates are still searching for better jobs and new roles. Firms compete for talent with the right skills, but fresh entrants are taking longer to find their footing.

What is at stake are hiring costs, retention rates, Singapore’s early-career pipelines and, with them, the resilience of the country’s human-capital base.

Over six years, the Youth Steps panel study – the first of its kind in Singapore – tracked more than 3,000 young Singaporeans from 2017 to 2022, following their pathways from study to work and into early adulthood.

Chew Han Ei is senior research fellow, and head of governance and economy at the Institute of Policy Studies, National University of Singapore (NUS). Vincent Chua is an associate professor at the department of sociology and anthropology, NUS. They are co-principal investigators of the Youth Study on Transitions and Evolving Pathways in Singapore (Youth Steps).