Year-long internships offered to 3,000 tertiary students to counter AI threat to entry-level jobs

The internships will be available to students in ITE, polytechnics, and universities.

ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Published Oct 19, 2026, 12:31 PM

Updated Oct 19, 2026, 12:38 PM

SINGAPORE - Around 3,000 new year-long internships will be offered to tertiary students over the next three years, to counter the impact of artificial intelligence disrupting the lowest rung of the career ladder and help youth build more in-depth work experience before graduation.

These credit-bearing internships , to be offered over the next three years, can be done as part of the curriculum before graduation. They aim to help students close the skill gaps created by AI automation, which is increasingly making entry-level roles redundant.

Such efforts are needed to build new bridges between school and work, as employers increasingly want new hires who can contribute earlier, said Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Tan Kiat How on Oct 19.

“These are not simply longer attachments. Like apprenticeships, they give students time to contribute to substantial projects, learn from experienced colleagues, and develop professional judgment,” said Tan, to a hall of nearly 500 students and company leaders at the Singapore Institute of Technology campus in Punggol.

He was speaking at the Singapore Computer Society TechConnect 2026, an annual event aimed at connecting students from Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) with employers, practitioners and mentors from firms such as Nvidia.

Tan echoed concerns made by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong earlier in October, who said that the “bottom rung” of career ladders might be broken due to AI adoption, and young people might not get sufficient training as a result. He urged companies in Singapore to pay attention to this issue, and be deliberate about mentoring junior hires.

“Junior engineers used to learn by writing simpler programmes, debugging code, testing applications or maintaining systems...AI can now assist with many of those junior tasks,” said Tan, adding that young professionals need to be given the chance to develop such crucial experience and judgment.

“Employers still need experienced engineers, but those engineers must begin somewhere. We cannot expect fresh graduates to arrive at their first job already possessing years of practical experience, nor can we simply tell them to learn more AI and expect everything to work out.”

He added that the responsibility for building the bridge between school and workplace must be shared between educational institutions, employers, industry associations, and the government.

The year-long internships have been available to polytechnic and ITE students since 2022, under the TIP Alliance+ programme led by the Infocomm Media Development Authority. It is now expanded to include university students.

The internships will be co-designed between IHLs and employers, and will span across various industries such as tech, finance, and healthcare. Companies that have been involved in previous runs include OCBC, consulting firm Accenture, and PSA.

The cost of hiring is co-funded by IMDA, with firms receiving up to $1,000 monthly per intern for each eligible year-long internship.

The goal is also to push back against the common practice of trying to do as many internships as possible, said Tan, warning that internships should not become an arms race to fill a resume.

“While internship experience is associated with better employment outcomes, accumulating more internships eventually produces diminishing returns,” said Tan, citing an internal study done by the National University of Singapore.

“Employers have told me the same, quality matters more than quantity. What matters is what you learnt, contributed and built.”

He added that IMDA will monitor the outcomes of the year-long internships closely, and assess expansion of successful methods over time.

Undertaking a year-long internship gave polytechnic graduate Pei Joon Yi enough time to understand how to build web applications around real user needs and adapt it continuously after they are deployed, beyond just honing his technical skills.

The 20-year-old had graduated with a diploma in applied AI and analytics. He recently completed his internship at Nanyang Technological University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, where he participated in building AI applications.

He also helped to create a dengue triage chatbot MyanGuard at a regional hackathon organised by AI Singapore.

“Over the year, I became more familiar with the development process…with each project, I could build on what I had learned previously instead of starting from scratch,” said Pei, adding that he had the space to develop soft skills such as communication and teamwork.

“The experience allowed me to continuously apply what I learned, improve my skill sets, and become more independent in approaching new projects. This growth would have been harder to achieve during a shorter internship.”

During his address, Tan also urged employers to move away from hiring based on educational qualifications, and recognise candidates for their skills and experience.

Among the 200 firms who have pledged to support skills-based hiring is tech services group NCS.

The firm places a larger emphasis on professional certifications and experience when hiring for roles especially in cybersecurity and building network connectivity, said Elton Loh, senior partner of homeland security at NCS.

“Traditionally we look for degree-holders, but we are moving away from that,” said Loh, adding that a quarter of those hired by the firm since April are diploma-holders or those with lower educational qualifications.

“Hiring based on skills allows us to quickly address real-world needs from our customers. Experience in areas such as penetration-testing and implementing network connectivity are high in demand, and are skills we look for when we hire.”

Sarah Koh is a journalist on the technology beat at The Straits Times. She takes an interest in the development of consumer tech and the impact of AI on society.

AI/artificial intelligence

实习机会将面向工艺教育学院、理工学院和大学的学生开放。

《海峡时报》摄影：郭志雄

发布于 2026 年 10 月 19 日下午 12:31

更新于2026年10月19日下午12:38

新加坡——未来三年，将为高等院校学生提供约 3000 个新的为期一年的实习岗位，以应对人工智能对职业阶梯最底层的影响，并帮助年轻人毕业前积累更深入的工作经验。

这些可获得学分的实习项目将在未来三年内提供，学生可以在毕业前将其作为课程的一部分完成。这些实习旨在帮助学生弥补人工智能自动化造成的技能差距，因为人工智能自动化正日益使一些入门级职位变得多余。

数字发展及新闻部高级政务部长陈杰豪于10月19日表示，需要做出这样的努力来搭建学校和工作之间的新桥梁，因为雇主越来越希望新员工能够尽早做出贡献。

“这些不仅仅是更长时间的实习。就像学徒制一样，它们让学生有时间参与重要的项目，向经验丰富的同事学习，并培养职业判断力，”谭先生在新加坡理工大学榜鹅校区对近 500 名学生和公司领导说道。

他是在新加坡计算机协会 TechConnect 2026 上发表讲话的，这是一项年度活动，旨在将高等院校 (IHL) 的学生与英伟达等公司的雇主、从业人员和导师联系起来。

陈先生的担忧与总理黄循财10月初的表态不谋而合。黄循财指出，人工智能的普及可能会打破职业阶梯的“底层”，导致年轻人无法获得足够的培训。他敦促新加坡企业重视这一问题，并重视对初级员工的指导和培养。

“初级工程师过去常常通过编写简单的程序、调试代码、测试应用程序或维护系统来学习……现在人工智能可以帮助完成许多这类初级任务，”谭说道，并补充说，年轻的专业人​​士需要有机会积累这种至关重要的经验和判断力。

“雇主仍然需要经验丰富的工程师，但这些工程师总要从某个地方开始。我们不能指望应届毕业生在第一份工作中就拥有多年的实践经验，也不能简单地告诉他们去学习更多人工智能知识，然后就指望一切都能迎刃而解。”

他还补充说，搭建学校与工作场所之间桥梁的责任必须由教育机构、雇主、行业协会和政府共同承担。

自2022年起，在新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局牵头的TIP Alliance+计划下，理工学院和工艺教育学院的学生可以参加为期一年的实习项目。现在，该项目已扩展至大学生。

这些实习项目将由高等院校和用人单位共同设计，涵盖科技、金融和医疗保健等多个行业。此前参与过该项目的公司包括华侨银行、埃森哲咨询公司和新加坡港务集团（PSA）。

招聘费用由新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局 (IMDA) 共同资助，符合条件的实习生每月可获得高达 1000 美元的补贴，实习期为一年。

Tan表示，此举也是为了抵制尽可能多地参加实习的普遍做法，并警告说，实习不应该变成一场为了充实简历而进行的军备竞赛。

“虽然实习经历与更好的就业结果相关，但积累更多的实习经历最终会带来收益递减，”谭说道，并引用了新加坡国立大学的一项内部研究。

“雇主们也告诉我同样的话，质量比数量更重要。重要的是你学到了什么，做出了什么贡献，以及创造了什么。”

他还补充说，IMDA将密切关注为期一年的实习项目的成果，并随着时间的推移评估成功方法的推广情况。

为期一年的实习让理工学院毕业生裴俊义有足够的时间了解如何围绕真实用户需求构建网络应用程序，并在部署后不断进行调整，而不仅仅是磨练他的技术技能。

这位20岁的年轻人获得了应用人工智能与分析专业的文凭。他最近在南洋理工大学李光前医学院完成了实习，参与了人工智能应用程序的开发。

他还参与创建了登革热分诊聊天机器人 MyanGuard，该机器人是在新加坡人工智能协会 (AI Singapore) 组织的区域黑客马拉松上开发的。

裴表示：“一年来，我对开发流程越来越熟悉……每个项目我都可以利用之前学到的知识，而不是从零开始。”他还补充说，他有空间培养沟通和团队合作等软技能。

“这段经历让我能够不断运用所学知识，提升技能，并在处理新项目时变得更加独立。如果实习时间较短，这种成长是很难实现的。”

在讲话中，谭先生还敦促雇主们不要再以学历作为招聘标准，而应该重视求职者的技能和经验。

在承诺支持基于技能的招聘的 200 家公司中，包括科技服务集团 NCS。

NCS国土安全高级合伙人埃尔顿·洛表示，该公司在招聘职位时，尤其是在网络安全和构建网络连接方面，更加注重专业认证和经验。

“传统上我们倾向于聘用拥有学位的人，但我们正在改变这种做法，”Loh说道，并补充说，自4月份以来，该公司聘用的员工中有四分之一是拥有文凭或较低学历的人。

“根据技能招聘可以让我们快速响应客户的实际需求。渗透测试和网络连接实施等领域的经验需求量很大，也是我们招聘时重点关注的技能。”

Sarah Koh是《海峡时报》的科技记者。她关注消费科技的发展以及人工智能对社会的影响。

人工智能