Singapore’s salary and employment outlook

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has released its fourth quarterly analysis on the labour market situation for 2016 which included unemployment, employment, redundancy, and job vacancy. The unemployment rate rose to 3% in 2016, with the number of job vacancies decreasing to a four-year low in December 2016.

Despite the forecast of a sluggish economy in 2017, about 36% of companies in Singapore are planning to increase their headcount, with 60% of these companies looking to hire mid-management level talents. According to the 2017 Asia Salary and Employment Outlook survey, approximately 63% of 450 employers in Singapore responded that employees can expect an increase of 1% to 5% in salary.

Some positions that could command a significant salary increase due to high demand and lack of talent supply are:
– Head of Human Resources, Compensation and Benefits Specialists (8% to 12% increase)
– Engineering Director, Quality Director, Project Director (10% to 15% increase)
– “C”-Suite roles in the Finance and Accounting sector, such as Chief Finance Officer, Corporate Finance Director, Internal Audit Director (8% to 10% increase)
– Country Chief Finance Officer, Director of Structured and Project Finance, Risk Management Director (8% to 12% increase)
– Healthcare General Manager, Medical Affairs (8% to 12% increase)
– Information Technology Director, Chief Information Officer (10% to 15% increase)

Sources:
http://www.humanresourcesonline.net
http://stats.mom.gov.sg