Fresh law graduates in Singapore are finding it hard to land jobs at their desired salary due to increasing competition, with big and mid-sized firms reducing salaries by about S$500 ($370) since May last year.

These were some of the findings from the latest Joint Graduate Employment survey, according to a report in the Today newspaper. An increasing number of overseas-educated graduates are causing an oversupply in Singapore’s legal market, with the rate of retention among trainees at law firms also taking a hit.

Statistics disclosed by the Law Ministry show that the number of returning law graduates jumped almost 50 per cent to 310 last year. Additionally, anywhere between 330 and 370 undergraduate law degrees are awarded by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University (SMU) every year.