Entry‑level hiring dipped 4.4%
LinkedIn data shows entry‑level hiring fell about 4.43% year‑on‑year, signalling fewer new junior roles are being created recently. The report noted the decline was smaller than for senior positions, but still represents a tightening market for first‑time applicants. (sbr.com.sg)
Entry-level hiring in Singapore fell 4.43% from a year earlier, according to LinkedIn data, adding another sign that employers are creating fewer junior jobs. (sbr.com.sg) LinkedIn said the drop in junior hiring was smaller than the decline for more senior roles, which suggests companies are cutting across experience levels rather than only freezing graduate intake. The report was published in 2026 and described a tougher hiring market overall. (sbr.com.sg) For first-time applicants, entry-level roles are the main bridge into paid work because they require less prior experience and often serve as training grounds inside companies. When those openings shrink, school leavers and new graduates compete for a smaller pool of jobs. (sbr.com.sg) The squeeze is not limited to Singapore. In the United States, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said labor market conditions for recent college graduates worsened in late 2025, with unemployment rising to about 5.7% in the fourth quarter and underemployment reaching 42.5%, the highest since 2020. (newyorkfed.org) Broader hiring has also turned uneven. The United States added 178,000 jobs in March 2026 and the unemployment rate was 4.3%, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics said long-term unemployment was up by 322,000 over the year, showing that job growth and job access are not moving evenly for all workers. (bls.gov) Employers are also planning for bigger shifts in the kinds of work they need. The World Economic Forum said in its January 2025 Future of Jobs Report that technological change, economic uncertainty, demographic shifts and the green transition are reshaping workforce strategies through 2030. (weforum.org) That leaves junior candidates facing a narrower starting line: fewer entry-level openings now, and a labor market in which companies are rethinking how many early-career roles they need to fill at all. (sbr.com.sg)
