SPEECH BY MR ONG YE KUNG, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND COORDINATING MINISTER FOR SOCIAL POLICIES, AT THE KENT RIDGE MINISTERIAL FORUM, 7 SEPTEMBER 2026

Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS President 

Aaron Thean, Provost, NUS

NUS faculty and staff, students 

Ladies and gentlemen 

1.             Very good evening. Thank you to NUSPA for inviting me. Very happy to join you for this Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum. I didn't quite register the theme, “reimagining resilience”, very profound. So I thought, as I prepared this speech, I forgot all about the theme. But I thought I just want to bring everything back down to earth to something that you may be concerned about, which is your jobs and what might come.  

More Difficulty Landing a Job

2.             So many of you graduates, soon to be graduates, you have shared that it has become more challenging to find jobs. Some of you are stacking up multiple internships to secure a job. Some of you sent out hundreds of CVs. I will give my views on whether there's a good idea later, and you may not get a callback. And sometimes you get a callback. You get interviewed by AI, you get screened out by AI, before you meet a human. Others worry: even if I get a job, can I afford my BTO, take care of my aged parents, start a family, have a baby, so on and so forth. The GES, which is the Graduate Employment Survey data, reflects some of this experience that you're going through.  

3.             So, from 2023 to 2025, proportion of graduates who secured employment six months after graduation declined from about 93% to 89%. If you look at full-time employment, the drop is slightly more. This reflects a more competitive market. You are entering a job market that has become more competitive. I do not think we are anywhere near the situation in some other countries, where youth unemployment and graduate unemployment reaches 20, 30% or more, neither is what we are facing simply due to AI. I think that's just oversimplifying the explanation. So today, I will set out what I feel are the changes in the job market, as I see it, and try to unpack it for you, and explain how you can set yourself up to maximise your chances of getting a job, succeeding in your career, and with a sense of confidence for the future.  

4.             So let's start with what has changed in the graduate employment market. I think the biggest change is that there are now more of you. There are more graduates in absolute terms, and as well as a percentage of every cohort. More young Singaporeans today are pursuing higher education. When I graduated, that's early 1990s, about one in five students in a cohort became graduates. Today, it is one in two. This is a positive development, which means more Singaporeans, young Singaporeans, are better educated and can achieve your aspiration to get a degree.  

5.             The government expanded university places to support not just the desire from more parents and students for higher education, but also to support the restructuring and upgrading of our economy. So, therefore, as the number of government-funded autonomous universities increase, we made sure that every single one has a distinct education experience. 

6.             So you look at NUS, NTU, these are the oldest and they are comprehensive universities – they have every school, every field of study. Then we have SMU, which is Business, Finance, Law. Then we have SUTD, focusing on technology and architecture, then you have SIT catering mostly to poly diploma upgraders, and then we have SUSS, which serves adult learners. So most of their intake are part-time undergraduates, and focusing also on social disciplines. We now have a UAS which focuses on the arts, and everyone maintains relatively high admission standards of their own. Regardless of the number of graduates, employers always look for qualities that distinguish job applicants. They always do so. Whatever quality they look for, it could be analytical skills, could be problem solving, ability to network, to collaborate. 

7.             So when there were fewer university graduates, like my time, but during my time it's not as easy to get to university. But if you get to university and graduate, employers just use academic results, your class of honours as a proxy for these qualities. Employers always use these proxies, whether they are accurate or not. But that's how HR works. And that was also the time when government encouraged employers: "Can you not be so overly focused on academic results, look at the graduate holistically." 

8.             Now with more graduates, a degree remains valuable, but it distinguishes you less than before. Hence, on top of looking at your GPAs, employers now also select applicants through internships. But there's an unintended consequence.  

9.             As more students build internship experience in addition to your exemplary grades, the job search process becomes more demanding. So now we have a self-reinforcing loop. Employers tightening hiring criteria, graduates you respond by doing more to meet the new criteria, and when more of you meet, employers say, "I need to differentiate further", and that's called an arms race. To help students land internships and find jobs, the Government developed programs like the GRIT scheme, the graduate industry traineeships. So in a way, Government too got pulled into this arms race. I just explained on the supply side, supply of graduates.

10.          Things are also happening on the demand side amongst employers as well. Driven by larger forces, many industries have been undergoing significant change over the years. Automobiles shifting to EVs, entertainment moving to streaming platforms, supply chains are reconfiguring because of regional conflicts, global conflicts, geopolitical disruptions. Healthcare is being reshaped by an older population, and then there is AI. In some organisations and industries, it is automating certain routine tasks. However, these tasks used to be handled by new hires. They are more structured work, so AI might have raised the baseline expectations of what the new hire has to do.  

11.          This has given to what some call the broken ladder syndrome, which means the career ladder is still there, but the first two rungs has been replaced by AI because the task has been automated by AI. So therefore, as a new hire now, you need to take a bigger step and start from the third rung instead of the first rung. There are important implications of that development, and employers need to pay attention to that, because sometimes it's the first two rungs that teach us the rules and help us build our competencies over career.  

12.          In summary, more graduates entering the market, employers needing to differentiate job applicants and higher expectations of new hires, and these are three compounding factors resulting in a tighter graduate job market and greater job search anxiety that you are facing. The question is, how should we respond?  

13.          To put things in context, China produces well over 10 million university graduates a year, 12 million in the latest year. Many graduates in China they have resigned themselves to the fact that securing a securing a good job is difficult, and so they decided to lie flat, "躺平”. That's a phenomenon in China.  

14.          India produces 8 million graduates annually. Survey shows that only 8% of them uses their graduate degrees. So the frustration is palpable amongst Indian youths, and this has contributed to the U-flat cockroach movement, which you might have heard of.  

15.          In Singapore, we are still in a healthy position relatively. Young Singaporeans, you can channel your energy to improving yourselves and charting your careers. And today, let me share with you three responses that you might consider adopting.

Be Confident

16.           First, be confident. I think you can remain confident that Singapore is still competitive and creating jobs. You are not entering a declining or a stagnant economy. You are entering an economy that is growing, that is attracting investments, and that is still dynamic. So you are not cooked. You're still raw.  

17.          That Singapore remains relevant and competitive is a decisive factor in shaping the employment market. If we are not competitive, jobs will dry up, investments will stop, our reputation will decline. But this is not happening. In fact, I think the reverse is happening. Singapore is strengthening our position as a keynote in global supply chains, connected to the world through our sea hub, through our air hub. And there is an increasing recognition that we are playing that role. Why? Because there was a disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. So when the Strait of Hormuz got disrupted, world trade oil price, world trade got disrupted, oil price went up. Every businessman around the world start to think, wow, when your choke point gets disrupted, it's serious business. Which other choke point are there in the world? Actually, the biggest is Straits of Malacca and Singapore, which cargo oil trade passes through Singapore, processed by PSA and other agencies here. So the awareness that Singapore is important has gone up.

18.          We have an open economy, strong network of FTAs, tripartite cooperation, stable institutions, and political climate. We take a long-term approach to policy implementation and development. We take a long-term approach developing infrastructure. We still invest heavily in our people and in education.  

19.          So, good companies around the world, and this is also quietly recognised by many companies that if you're a good company all around the world, you can work and collaborate in Singapore, even in an environment where there is geopolitical tension. If you're a good company, you can come to Singapore. You can collaborate.  

20.          Hence, companies continue to base important functions here. Micron is investing in advanced semiconductor production facilities in Singapore, supporting AI. Pharmaceutical companies like Roche, GSK, Sanofi, they are putting their most state-of-the-art research and production lines in Singapore. Google, expanding its AI research and engineering presence here, financial institutions are growing their operations here. Both our integrated resorts are expanding and investing big sums of money. Our local major companies, DBS Capital, SembCorp, ST Engineering, they are expanding their businesses and hiring new graduates, but we are also investing in ourselves. Changi Airport Terminal Five, the new Tuas Port, new MRT trains, RTS link to Johor Bahru, hospitals serving different parts of Singapore, the Kallang Alive Master Plan. All these are ongoing.  

21.          Our SMEs, they also need talent. Many are growing, they're transforming, regionalising, internationalising. But you know they always lament, I cannot attract graduates. Graduates don't want to apply for my jobs. So you can consider some of them. Think of them as startups, traditional startups.  

22.          Let me also say something about AI, because this is on many minds. Some specific jobs, very specific jobs, the programmers, editors, translators, might be replaced by AI. But if we ask people around us, working people, working professionals, we will find that the large swaths of jobs remain relevant and not displaced by AI.  

23.          I know for a fact, healthcare workers remain as busy as ever. In fact, they are hoping that AI can help reduce some of their routine work, some of their tedious work, such as automating record taking during a consultation with a patient, planning their work rosters, which can be very complicated, and providing with an extra pair of eyes when they do diagnostic scans, and all these are happening in our hospitals.  

24.          Once I went to a wake in my constituency, and the son of the deceased is an interior designer, so I ask him, has AI affected your job? He said no. I use it to improve renderings for my clients. But when it comes to liaising with contractors, applying for permits with Government agencies, iterating ideas with the clients, the AI can't do. I still have to do. So he said, with AI, I can take on more customers.  

25.          During my home visit, I met someone working in the MICE industry. I asked the same question, so I'm a bit obsessed with this question recently. I said, "Has AI affected your job?" He also said, "No." He said: "I organise roadshows for government agencies mostly." He said: "AI can help with some of the artwork, but some of them are not nice anyway." He said: "But I still have to be the one that design the overall experience. I curate the themes and the narratives, and I work with partners and media to bring everything together. AI can't replace that job; it's still very busy." 

26.          Once I was having roti prata, a woman sat next to me. I ask, "What do you do?” She said, "I run a call center. I asked the same question again, "Has AI affected your job in the call centers?" I would expect yes. She said, "No." She said: "I run a call centre for SingHealth. Actually, under you, Minister." And she said: "In SingHealth, most of the callers are seniors, and when they call, they are usually anxious, worried, and therefore you need a human to speak to them, not a machine." 

27.          So the feedback by many of these conversations is quite consistent from people across many professions. Most of the time, AI is replacing certain tasks, but not entire jobs, at least not yet. So it is not resulting in mass job displacement, but it is used as a tool, which can result in some job redesign. 

28.          Temasek CEO Dilhan Pillay recently told me, is encouraging all his staff in Temasek to use AI as a tool, and if they save time, you return the time to them so they can have better work-life balance.  

Tap on the Support Structure

29.          Second thing you can consider doing is to tap on the support structure around you. There are many resources and programs, counsellors, mentors, seniors, who want to help you succeed. They are trying their best. Some of the things we do is effective; some not so effective. But nevertheless, so many people around you want to see you succeed. So you are not alone.  

30.          As a start, our education system remains one of Singapore's strongest capability builder. Our tertiary institutions, such as NUS, are high quality and responsive. They have been trying very hard to keep their curricula updated, including with inputs from the industries. They have incorporated more real-world learning and interdisciplinary training. Universities are also introducing more courses to build data and AI fluency in every student, and several have offered students free access to AI tools.  

31.          University career officers, they are playing an active role, to facilitate employment. There are many foreign universities where their career offices are starting to notice the number of vacancies from employers registered with them are dropping, including Oxford and Cambridge. But in Singapore, our university centres are still reporting healthy level of job vacancies registered from employers. The wider employment ecosystem is also stepping up. NTUC organises career fairs to put graduates directly in front of employers, sometimes with interviews conducted on the spot. We have a new agency called the SWDA, Skills and Workforce Development Agency. They will be stepping up their career guidance, attachments, employment matching support.  

32.          The recently launched Youth Plan is building a career mentoring pool of 5,000 mentors, offering opportunities to explore different careers via job tasters. I recently visited the SBF, the Singapore Business Federation, and I met several of their team members. I raised this issue with them that graduates are finding it more challenging to find jobs, and stacking up internships. Some do 5, 6, 7, internships during their undergraduate experience. So they recognise these challenges faced by new graduates, and agreed with my suggestion to consolidate internship opportunities across their members, and for undergraduates, especially for those facing challenges landing your first internship. And indeed, SBF employers, they have a very big part to play. Employers can help prevent hiring from becoming an ever-escalating arms race. If I put it frankly, the intensity of this arms race is ultimately shaped by how employers hire. We are not asking employers to lower their hiring standards, but every additional signal that employers send - hiring candidates with more internships, more credentials, better grades, becomes something that students feel you must chase to curate your perfect CV. And the truth is, if you lower some of this, you relax the system a bit, but don't think the outcomes are affected.  

33.          Hiring a fresh graduate is always about spotting potential and taking a chance in a young person. Some students have spent years training, playing competitive sports, or dedicating yourselves to the arts. Some have gone backpacking around the world, made friends from many different cultures. Some volunteered in the community, or taken on caregiving responsibilities at home, and these experiences may not fit neatly into a conventional CV, but they tell you something important about the person: the resilience, the initiative, discipline, empathy, character, work ethic. So I encourage and hope that employers will look at candidates holistically, beyond GPAs and internships. Help assure applicants that this is how you hire, and cool down an arms race that is energy sapping, and I think making the undergraduate experience less holistic for young people at a critical formative age.  

Improve Your Chances

34.          Finally, while you cannot control every outcome, there are steps you can take to shape your own path and prepare yourself for the future. The most important, I feel, is to build mastery. This means finding an area that you care about, going deep into the craft, and working at it for the long haul. It may or may not be the course that you are studying, but you have to find something you are prepared to invest in and go through some difficulty learning it. A degree may open the door. A mastery of your craft will define you as a professional and become your biggest competitive edge. In a world where AI takes over routine tasks, and we are surrounded by AI-generated content, some of you call AI slop, mastery is what set you apart, and will be more valued than before. You will stand out.  

35.          In that context, when you apply for a job, try to demonstrate your interest, your passion, and your desire to pursue mastery. I understand the instinct to cast a wide net and send out many many CVs. There is a saying that you miss 100% of the shots you do not take, so it is better to send more CVs to increase your chances of hitting something.  

36.          There is a certain logic I can understand, but remember this: employers are moving targets; they are not static targets, and they can move faster than your shots. They can tell when a CV is mass-produced, even if it contains some customised tweaks. That is when they employ AI to go through those CVs, because those CVs lacks intention, interest, desire, and certainly gives no indication of the desire for mastery. I think it is better to zero in which industry, what kind of work nature, what sort of organisation suits and interests you, and invest in the defined set of opportunities. And then, when you get an offer, seriously consider accepting it. It will rarely be the perfect job. In fact, I don't think it will be the perfect job. Even when you get your perfect job, by the time you start, you realise actually it's not perfect. So it's never perfect. So if one of your shots hit the target, take the win. Every target you hit gives you confidence and brings you one step closer to mastery.  

37.          Sometimes fresh graduates turn down an offer because the salary fell short of expectations or due to a lack of work-life balance, and this thing matters a lot. And it is understandable you value them, but at the start of your career, learning and laying a career foundation matters the most. So, if the employer does not offer the option of working from home, understand that there are good reasons for requiring physical presence. It is about being present at the workplace to learn the ropes, to interact with colleagues, mentors, supervisors face-to-face, observe how decisions are made, what's the expression when they make those decisions, take part in those conversations along the corridor and in the pantry, you learn a lot from those.  You can't learn by working from home, and pick up the habits of the profession. Your first job does not have to define your whole career.

38.          Your first job is a starting point, not a settling point. Seizing an opportunity, even an imperfect one, is giving yourself a platform to build towards your goals.

The Age of Uncertainty

39.          It is natural to feel anxious when we start worrying about a future that we know is uncertain. Sometimes we just need to have faith in yourself, in ourselves, in Singapore, in humanity.  

40.          AI is a major source of uncertainty today, as it is a technology that is growing exponentially. It will learn faster and faster, and someday, not very long from now, it will reach AGI and then ASI, artificial superintelligence. Then what happens? I also don't know. That's the uncertainty.  

41.          But maybe if you have faith, when that happens, maybe the greatest impact is the compression of time taken for inventions and discoveries, such as inventing new drugs to cure diseases, new carbon-free ways of generating power, better machines, faster engineering calculations, instantaneous problem analysis, and this, you know, will trigger thousands of work streams, spark tremendous economic activities and opportunities in the same way that previous grounds of technology breakthroughs in history created far more jobs than they destroyed, and perhaps if that happened, when you have ASI, maybe humans will have taken steps to curb AI's unfettered growth.  

42.          Governments may reserve certain jobs to be only done by humans, which is a very serious proposal and suggestion from Bill Gates recently. Maybe consumers may demand, consumers like you and me, demand the human touch, in the same way as we will frustratingly navigate an automated hotline - press one, press two, press hashtag, press your IC number - in order to reach a real human being, we may demand that doctors, teachers, educators, policemen, HR personnel, service staff, financial advisers to be human. We want food prepared by human chefs. We want to watch live bands. We want songs written by the real Taylor Swift. We want to watch films featuring human actors and real-world imagery like Top Gun: Maverick. That one has no AI at all.

43.          So in history, when machines replaced human labor and physical labour, it led to the industrial revolution. There were new social stresses, which led to the emergence of social welfare systems and unions to protect workers. Then, when computers replaced cognitive effort, it raised productivity, turbo-charged growth and globalisation, and then changed the way we consume information and the way we communicate. And today we are grappling with a far-reaching impact that we did not realise at that time, you know, on our mental health, social cohesion, and even how should a democracy function under those circumstances.  

44.          As AI replaces knowledge creation and even human connection, the impact will be even more profound. Seizing its opportunities, installing guardrails, and pushing back against its adverse impacts, are parallel efforts of equal importance that we must start with now.  

45.          It will be an uncertain process and understandably worrying, but it is not new to human history. Further, from a personal standpoint, how does worrying help? How does getting anxious help? It doesn't change the situation. Life is not straightforward. That is a fact. Regretting the past, worrying about the future is a waste of energy, waste of mental power. It changes nothing. They are amongst our worst emotional enemies.  

46.          Instead, focus on the present. That means seizing opportunities before us, investing in your own mastery, making the best use of the opportunities. These are things I've been trying to live by. All of us in this room, you, me, President, NUS, everybody, Provost. Regardless of what phase of life we are in, we must continue to seize the moment before us. Learn as much as we can, and figure out what we want to do when we grow up, including me.  

47.          You certainly have more time than I do, so we make the most of it. I look forward to our dialogue. Thank you.