Tech salaries in Singapore at record high amid funding boom, limited talent supply

DealStreetAsia

February 13, 2022

Original Source

Salaries of technology workers in Singapore rose by 22% in 2021 compared to the previous year on account of the venture capital funding boom, the presence of global tech companies in the city-state, and a limited talent pool.

The talent war has driven up salaries to an all-time high, according to a report published by tech jobs portal NodeFlair and venture capital firm Quest Ventures.

Average salaries of software engineers rose by 32% in 2021 compared to the previous year, the largest increase among all technical roles, per the report that analysed 30,000 data points.

Junior- and mid-level software engineers could command up to SGD$7,500 and SGD$9,500 ($5585 and $7074) a month respectively, while software engineers at the senior level or above could be in the five-figure salary bracket.

Salaries in India and Indonesia were relatively lower. The top junior- and mid-level software engineers in India could earn SGD$3,406 and SGD$4,163 ($2,536 and $3,100) respectively. In Indonesia, the highest-paying junior- and mid-level software engineers were offered SGD$1,185 and SGD$1,706 ($882 and $1270) respectively.

Salary data for India and Indonesia came from 5,300 data points from the fourth quarter of 2021.

Companies most popular among job seekers in Singapore, based on the number of searches, include the well-established US tech behemoths such as Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon; the newer tech giants like China’s Bytedance, foodpanda, Grab, and Shopee; and financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Paypal and Visa.

But the number one spot went to GovTech, an agency under the Singapore government that creates digital services for the country.

The top 15 most searched companies paid 12% more than the median software engineering salary, with the FAANG companies paying 39% to 56.5% more.

“Salary is identified as the largest push and pull factor, and the reason responsible for failed job placement,” Quest Ventures’ managing partner James Tan said in a statement.

NodeFlair said rising salaries are not coming to a stop as competition for talent remains intense, especially with the billions of dollars pouring into cryptocurrency companies.

“Salary ranks higher than other reasons like their desire to work on new technologies, work-life balance and growth opportunities,” Ethan Ang, the chief executive of NodeFlair said in a statement.

“While companies can, and will, work on the non-compensation aspect to attract talents, the easier way out in the short term will be to increase their hiring budget, especially when they are on a hiring spree,” he added.