Singapore Salary Guide 2011

Singapore’s reputation as a stable economy, with excellent infrastructure and talented professionals, has seen it pull out of the economic downturn fairly quickly and move into a prudently optimistic recruitment market.

The city-state’s recovery is solid rather than stellar, but many sectors are now rapidly expanding and enjoying robust growth. This translates to across-the-board career opportunities, with some areas of the market offering exceptional development moves for people with the right skill set and experience.
To give you clarity on opportunities and to provide a benchmark for jobseekers and employers alike, Morgan McKinley has gathered the accumulated expertise of its consultants, and their unique sector-wide understanding of employment and compensation trends, to deliver you the Morgan McKinley Singapore Salary Guide 2011.

Indeed, the market and its remuneration packages have shifted significantly since the credit crisis, with basic salaries and bonuses receiving greater scrutiny over the past two years.
In financial services, and since our last report released early 2010, the significant growth in Singapore’s GDP was reflected in salary inflation. It is expected that replacement and investment hiring is set to continue for the next few years. Recruitment was focused on replacing headcount in the first half of 2010; and many talented individuals grasped the opportunity to seek better remuneration, via salary appraisals or by moving firms.

A number of ongoing global economic issues created a ‘softer’ than expected Q4, which had the knock-on effect of making most financial services institutions more cautious with their headcount requirements. In 2011, a repeat of the hiring surge of 2010 is not expected, but overall the sentiment remains strong with continued growth and strong demand anticipated for the remainder of the year.
In commerce and industry, recruitment activity picked up in the last quarter of 2009 and remained constant throughout 2010. 2011 sees strong recruitment activity as businesses focus on growing again. Competition amongst employers for high calibre, sector-experienced professionals is predicted as some individuals move to roles outside their industry. Salary increases may be required to retain this talent.A number of businesses stripped back their sales, marketing and communications functions in 2009-10, and similarly there was consolidation in the HR and finance teams. With growth in 2011 will come replacement roles and a significant number of new positions and career development opportunities for talented people.We hope you find this guide informative and we welcome any feedback you may have. For more specific salary or hiring information, please contact us directly.

Download our 2011 Singapore Salary Guide PDF [1.19 MB]

Chris Jay
Managing Director | Singapore
T: + 65 6557 4661
E: cjay@morganmckinley.com.sg