IT Salaries Soar In Singapore Amid Strong Demand For Specialist Staff

Investvine

February 22, 2022

Original Source

Competition for information technology (IT) talent in Singapore will continue to heat up this year, resulting in higher salaries for talented personnel led by software engineers, according to the Tech Talent Compensation report Singapore 2021/2022 released by tech talent platform NodeFlair and venture capital firm Quest Ventures.

Tech salaries increased an average of 22 per cent year-on-year in 2021, while more senior software engineers who are holding lead roles saw an even sharper raise, with increments of up to 32 per cent, the report said, adding that the trend “will not be slowing down anytime soon.”

The report analysed more than 30,000 data points from NodeFlair’s database, including user-submitted salaries backed by documents such as pay slips and offer letters, as well as advertised salaries on job portals.

Junior software engineers can expect a monthly paycheck of $3,529 in average

The median-base salary compensation stands at S$4,750 ($3,529) monthly for a junior software engineer, at S$6,500 and S$7,500, respectively, for mid-level and senior software engineers, and S$9,000 for lead levels.

In the best-paid tech jobs in the city-state, including software and solutions engineering, cybersecurity, data engineering and quality assurance, median-base salaries can be as much as three times more than those in the lowest-paid range, the report found.

For instance, junior software engineers in those jobs are paid up to S$7,500, while mid-level and senior software engineers can command S$9,500 and S$11,500, respectively. Lead software engineers can expect a pay check with a base salary of S$15,950. Software engineering managers even have a pay range of up to S$21,000.

Salary increase among the “highest ever seen”

Human resources experts say that said the recent increase in tech salaries in Singapore is among the highest professionals have ever seen.

Workers in the sector are also being offered attractive increments and sign-on bonuses to switch jobs. Local tech talent in Singapore may be offered increments of around 20 per cent when changing employers, and those with specialised skills in high-growth sectors, including e-commerce and financial technology, can expect increments of up to 30 per cent.

Among the most popular tech companies or state entities looking for top talent are Singapore’s Government Technology Agency, or GovTech, e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada, TikTok maker ByteDance, ride-hailing and delivery firm Grab and food delivery group Foodpanda.

Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook pay top salaries

Global tech companies including Google, Facebook/Meta, Amazon/Amazon Web Services, Apple and PayPal, as well as banks and financial institutions such as DBS, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase and Visa are also hungry for talent in Singapore.

Amazon Web Services, Facebook, Apple and Google are offering some of the highest salaries at between 39 per cent and 56.5 per cent more than the market median.

Other popular companies paying more than 25 per cent over the median include ByteDance, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, as well as foodpanda.