Give a me a raise if you want to keep me: Singapore IT professionals

• Starting salaries for Singapore’s IT professionals are set to grow by an average of 3.2% in 2017.
• Security Analysts, IT Risk professionals and Infrastructure Architects are set to receive the highest salary gains in 2017.
• More than half (51%) of technology professionals in Singapore think they are not being paid a fair salary in relation to their role and job duties with 47% saying their pay is not in proportion with their workload/responsibilities.
• Almost all (92%) say they are willing to accept a job offer with a higher salary if they felt they were not being paid a fair salary with their current employer, yet 70% are less inclined to look for a new job after they receive a pay rise.

Source: Robert Half. Singapore IT professionals expect pay rises in 2017.

Demand for highly-skilled IT professionals is heating up in Singapore, with salaries for specialised IT security professionals set to grow well above the national average. The 2017 Robert Half Salary Guide^ has identified the technology roles that can expect the highest pay gains in terms of starting salaries in 2017.

According to the Robert Half Salary Guide, IT professionals can expect an average starting salary gain of 3.2% in 2017, which is above the national salary growth of 2.7%* as identified by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower. Robert Half says that this suggests that companies are willing to pay competitively for top IT talent.

Pay and salary increases remain a primary motivator for Singapore’s workforce, also indicating IT professionals are more loyal to their company after a pay review. About half (51%) of Singapore’s IT workforce believe they are not being paid a fair salary considering their job responsibilities, with just under half (47%) saying their pay is not in proportion with their daily workload. As technology is now a major business focus, workloads have increased, highlighting the need for companies to continuously review their staff’s remuneration packages to ensure high workloads are offset by a competitive salary, Robert Half notes.

Emphasising the need to pay competitively, the independent Robert Half research indicates 92% of IT professionals say they are willing to accept a job offer with a higher salary if they felt they were not being paid a fair salary with their current employer. Despite this, 70% change their minds when they receive a pay rise, being less inclined to look for a new job.

Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard, MD, Robert Half Singapore said: “Companies are increasingly implementing new and innovative technologies and demand for skilled IT professionals continues to rise, resulting in upward momentum on starting salaries for professionals in this sector. In a candidate-short market, Singaporean businesses are prepared to pay competitively to secure the best IT talent.

“With the growing risk of cyber-attacks, many businesses take a pre-emptive approach to cyber-security by either creating their own in-house team of IT security specialists or relying on security consultants. Companies realise they are competing for a limited pool of top candidates, leaving highly skilled and experienced Security Analysts, Security Consultants and IT Risk professionals across industries in a good position to negotiate above-average salary gains in 2017.”

“Singaporean companies are currently in the race for digitisation and those that are quickest to adapt and at the cutting edge of innovation will be able to gain the strongest market share. Because of this digital acceleration, the shortage of skilled IT professionals who are able to manage complex IT systems, data and analytics projects is becoming more apparent.”

Protecting the integrity of both IT systems, networks and data has become a top priority of many Singaporean companies, and Security Analysts and IT risk professionals play a key role here, which is why they can expect above-average salary gains for the year ahead. Additionally, Big Data Specialists who are able to go above and beyond to support their organisation’s enterprise infrastructure are currently in high demand yet challenging to find. Highly skilled Infrastructure Architects who possess strong leadership and communication skills to effectively lead a team and communicate complex IT terms, can also expect substantial salary growth in 2017.

“The best way for IT professionals to increase their pay is to specialise their skillsets and become highly valuable to their organisation in an ‘add-value’ role. The most sought-after IT professionals, who are able to negotiate well above the industry average, are those who are familiar with new security software and hardware, experienced in big data analytics, and have been involved in a digitisation project,” Imbert-Bouchard concluded.

	Job title	Industry	Years of experience**	2017 min***	2017 max	YoY growth4****
1.	Security Analyst/Consultant	Commerce and Industry	4-7 years’ experience	S$80,000	S$110,000	+ 18.8%
2.	Security Analyst/Consultant	Commerce and Industry	>10 years’ experience	S$115,000	S$155,000	+ 14.9%
3.	Security Analyst/Consultant	Financial Services	>10 years’ experience	S$130,000	S$180,000	+ 14.8%
4.	Security Analyst/Consultant	Financial Services	4-7 years’ experience	S$100,000	S$130,000	+ 12.2%
5.	IT Audit/IT Risk	Commerce and industry	4-7 years’ experience	S$70,000	S$90,000	+ 10.3%
6.	Infrastructure Architect	Commerce and industry	>10 years’ experience	S$120,000	S$150,000	+ 10.2%
7.	IT Audit/IT Risk	Financial services	4-7 years’ experience	S$100,000	S$130,000	+ 9.5%
8.	IT Audit/IT Risk	Commerce and industry	7-10 years’ experience	S$100,000	S$130,000	+ 9.5%
9.	Security Analyst/Consultant	Commerce and industry	7-10 years’ experience	S$100,000	S$130,000	+ 9.5%
10.	Security Analyst/Consultant	Financial services	7-10 years’ experience	S$110,000	S$135,000	+ 8.9%

Source: 2017 Robert Half Salary Guide

Interested?

Download the 2017 Robert Half Salary Guide

 

* Ministry of Manpower – Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2016

**Years of experience in IT/technology.

***Salaries refers to starting salaries. Salary figures provided vary according to level of experience, size of the company, sector, employee skills and the organisation itself.
 

****Salary difference between 2016 and 2017.

^The 2017 Robert Half Salary Guide is a resource on starting salaries and recruitment trends in finance and accounting, financial services and information technology. It offers a comprehensive overview of the current salary ranges, industry trends and specific job trends for finance and accounting professionals, finance professionals in the financial services sector and information technology professionals. The results and insights of the 2017 Robert Half Salary Guide are based on comprehensive analyses, local job placements, local expertise and independent research of executives and office workers. For the first time with the guide, Robert Half has also aggregated its data with Broadbean job posting data, a digital tool that captures job advertisement analytics and talent acquisition behaviour. 

The research is developed by Robert Half and was conducted in February 2017 by an independent research firm, surveying 100 technology, 100 finance and accounting, and 100 financial services employees in Singapore.

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