Roles in tech, legal, healthcare lead jobs for fresh graduates

[SINGAPORE] As Singapore’s labour market tightens, young jobseekers entering the workforce are finding it tougher to land their first job.

The number of job postings per applicant in Singapore has dropped 8 per cent over the past year, according to LinkedIn’s Grad’s Guide 2025. The result is stiffer competition, with more grads vying for fewer roles.

But some career paths are emerging as winners for today’s jobseekers, especially in the tech sector. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) engineer has become one of the top roles that graduates are landing. It ranks No 1 for those with a master’s degree and No 2 for bachelor’s holders. 

Data from LinkedIn shows that the role also tops graduate hiring lists in the US, Netherlands and the UK.

The findings from LinkedIn’s report are based on analysis of profiles and job postings on the platform between January 2022 and December 2024, focusing on users’ first full-time jobs post-graduation. The rankings reflect the fastest-growing roles by share of hiring over that period.

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What jobs are fresh grads landing?

Here are how the top five roles in Singapore stack up, separated by education level.

For bachelor’s degree holders:

• Legal associate
• AI engineer
• Pharmacist
• Marketing assistant
• Interior designer

For master’s degree holders:

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More competition for roles among graduates, employers flag skills gap: LinkedIn

• AI engineer
• Management associate
• Research engineer
• Project manager
• Data analyst

For Gen Z jobseekers, over half say the job search has become harder over the past year.

Roles are evolving, and so are employers’ expectations

LinkedIn data revealed that 10 per cent of workers hired in 2024 held job titles that did not exist in 2000 – positions such as sustainability manager, AI engineer and social media manager.

And by 2030, 70 per cent of the skills used in most jobs are expected to change, with AI as the catalyst.

As for employers, they are increasingly valuing agility in entry-level hires, placing a premium on those who can reskill and adapt to change.

“With AI increasingly being embedded into every job, recruiters will be on the lookout for talent who can confidently use AI and apply the technology to work smarter,” said Feon Ang, managing director for LinkedIn Asia-Pacific.

“While not everyone needs to be an AI developer, basic AI literacy is emerging as a critical skill – much like digital literacy was a decade ago.”