In “Be grateful, S’poreans; do not seek unrealistic ideal” (Jan 15), the letter writer seems to assume that people who voice certain feedback are seeking self-gratification, such as job protectionism and access to cheap cars, but sidesteps some pressing issues.
By and large, if companies have proper career development for their local staff, they would find fresh graduates willing to work for them.
But some companies lack proper human resource management and training.
It has also come to a state where our tertiary education has not linked up all that well with industries and some fresh graduates find themselves uncompetitive in the job market because of a skills mismatch and misalignment.
The proposed solution has been skills upgrading, which hardly takes into account whether an individual has support from his company to manage his workload.
Another issue is the lack of control in the quality of foreign qualifications.
And in allowing competition from foreign graduates, some of them may not have the prerequisite knowledge, but are willing to accept a lower wage.
This and the misalignment of education and skills needed by industries have resulted in fresh graduates facing underemployment, amid mounting student debts.
Liu Rijing
* Letter first appeared in Today Online (19 Jan).