Young Graduates Share Their Views as NTUC LAB–SMU Dialogue Probes Future of Work

Perspectives on shrinking entry-level opportunities, rising competition, and the pressure to “internship-stack” dominated conversations at a youth employment dialogue jointly convened by the National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC) Labour Alliance co-laB (LAB) and the Singapore Management University (SMU).

“Young Voices, Work Futures: An NTUC-SMU Dialogue on Youth Employment in Transition” brought policymakers, employers, academics, and graduands into the same room on 11 February 2026 to discuss what several speakers described as a “structural shift” in how young people enter the workforce.

Hosted by NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay, the panel of speakers highlighted that while Singapore’s labour market remains tight, opportunities for first-time jobseekers are becoming more uneven. The other speakers included LAB member and SMU Prof Sun Sun Lim; Workforce Singapore (WSG) Assistant Chief Executive Ms Tracy Lee; LinkedIn Head of Public Policy SEA Ms Trisha Suresh, and the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) Assoc Prof Justina Tan. The Dialogue was moderated by SMU Asst Prof Cao Wenjia from the newly-launched Resilient Workforce Institute.

Students and recent graduates asked the speakers for advice on how they could secure an internship or a job, and shared concerns that Artificial Intelligence could be disrupting junior roles.

ASG Tay noted that NTUC was concerned that these trends would lead to underemployment, particularly involuntary non-time-based underemployment where an individual was stuck in a role not commensurate with their qualifications, skills, and experience. ASG Tay encouraged students to tap into resources including the NTUC Career Festival held on 13 and 14 February 2026, and featuring 5,000 job availabilities from employers like Huawei and PwC.

The session concluded with a call for more experimental approaches to workforce policy, including redesigned entry-level roles, stronger school-to-work bridges and platforms for youth voices to shape labour reforms.

Insights from the Dialogue would feed into ongoing policy thinking and programme design, and the session concluded with a call for stronger school-to-work bridges and the importance of youths’ resilience and proactiveness in an evolving labour landscape.