WP MP Louis Chua highlights increasing trend of companies hiring interns instead of fresh graduates

Independent Singapore

25-06-2025

SINGAPORE: In a video he posted on social media on Sunday (June 22), Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament Louis Chua (Sengkang) shared that he had been hearing from residents who have recently graduated about how difficult it is to secure a job at the moment.
In relation to this, he wrote, 'But what is also quite worrying is the increasing trend of companies hiring interns, even for those who've graduated, instead of hiring them full time.'
Mr Chua said that he has been hearing about this numerous times in the past few weeks, as he and his team have carried out house visits. He characterised it as 'quite concerning' amid global issues and fears of an economic slowdown.
The young residents who spoke to him said that some of their peers have been looking for jobs for several months or even more than a year and have been unsuccessful in securing an offer for a full-time job.
'I think this is something we should look further into,' the MP said.
While he acknowledged cyclical concerns, he underlined the need to look further into the reasons why companies may not want to hire graduates for full-time employment.
Internships vs hiring graduates for full-time work
'Part of the worrying trend that I've also observed, based on what residents have shared with me, is that quite a number of companies are instead offering internship opportunities to students who have already graduated,' he added.
Although internships contribute to students obtaining practical experience, when companies offer internships that pay S$1000 a month to fulfil the jobs a newly graduated full-time employee might perform, this becomes a concern, he added.
Mr Chua also said that a lot more could be done by way of exploring ways to incentivise companies to offer full-time employment instead of merely incentivising internship opportunities.
He gave the example of a resident whose son had excellent A-level grades and studied computer science, but 'cannot actually find anything remotely related to the field of study'.
The MP said he wanted to hear Singaporeans' thoughts on tackling rising youth unemployment and underemployment.
'Are you a fresh graduate searching for a job right now? How can we better incentivise and help our graduates get started on their careers? Do let us know!' he added in his post.
His video has been widely viewed and commented on on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok since it was posted.
'I am an employer in an SME, and this is largely true. The real impact comes from the fact that new grads in SG are too expensive,' one TikTok user wrote, while others said that hiring foreign talent is more cost-effective for many employers.
'An internship is just temporary and may lead to full-time employment, enjoying company benefits after staff confirmation. It is still the cost issue. Would the new graduates be willing to start with lower pay than the market rate to get the job?' a Facebook user chimed in.
'Yes… I've been hired as an intern to do 1) full-time employee work, 2) LEAD a team of full timers, both companies paying me $800 and expecting me to do as well as / outperform their full-time staff. Many companies just hire intern after intern and expect them to provide full-time work standards. No guidance,' wrote an Instagram user. /TISG
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