Some 23 percent of IFTM graduates were as of last year employed in “senior level or higher” roles, according to the results of the Institute’s latest IFTM Alumni Employment Survey. It covered graduates that completed their studies at the Institute either in 2018 or earlier.
The survey was launched in the first quarter of last year. More than 3,600 alumni were contacted, and the overall response rate stood at 47 percent.
The majority of the employed respondents was working in the tourism and hospitality industry (about 58 percent), with most of those engaged at large-scale integrated resorts and entertainment complexes. Some 13 percent of replying alumni reported they were working in public administration.
About 16 percent of all alumni that responded to the survey had pursued postgraduate studies since graduating from IFTM. A third of that cohort had done so in higher education institutions outside Asia. Among IFTM alumni coming from the Mainland that had pursued postgraduate studies, 43 percent of them had done so in higher education institutions rated amongst the world’s top 100 as per the QS World University Rankings 2022.
The median salary among survey respondents was significantly higher than the MOP15,800 median monthly earnings of a Macao worker in 2021. The latter figure is from data collected by the Statistics and Census Service.
Respondents that graduated from IFTM between 1995 and 2000 had the highest median salary, at MOP57,500 The median wage level was most modest among those graduating from the Institute between 2016 and 2018, standing at MOP20,500.
About 87 percent of alumni reported they were satisfied with the undergraduate education they had received at IFTM. Most responding alumni – around 89 percent – stated they would encourage high school graduates to apply to study at IFTM, the survey found.
Ready for employment
A separate survey on the employment of people who graduated from IFTM in academic year 2020/2021 found 64 percent of IFTM bachelor’s degree holders had gained employment as of November last year. Of those people, 75 percent were in full-time work, with the monthly median salary being MOP14,600.
The figures were according to IFTM’s 2020/2021 Degree and Diploma Programme Graduates’ Career Placement Survey. IFTM launched the online employment survey questionnaire in November last year. The response rate among bachelor’s degree holders was 75 percent.
The survey also included master’s degree holders, as the Institute awarded its first degrees in that category in academic year 2020/2021. The survey response rate stood at 100 percent for this group. A total of 83 percent of IFTM master’s degree holders reported they had full-time employment, with the monthly median salary being MOP19,000.
For responding IFTM diploma programme graduates, the reported employment rate was approximately 78 percent. A total of 86 percent of that cohort were working full time in Macao, and the monthly median salary within the group was MOP19,750. The survey response rate for diploma programme graduates was 62 percent.
Of the employed IFTM bachelor’s degree programme people, 59 percent were in tourism and hospitality; 15 percent were in services; 8 percent were in finance and insurance; and 6 percent were in the education sector.
Aside from those in employment, a total of 13 percent of bachelor’s degree programme graduates responding said they were continuing their studies as of the date of the survey. In addition, close to 6 percent of bachelor’s degree graduates reported they were engaging in work and study in tandem.
The diploma programme graduate responses showed that 50 percent of those in employment were working in the tourism and hospitality industry, and 33 percent were in other types of service.
