Employers in Singapore are advertising more salary increases than their counterparts around the region, according to JobStreet's latest salary report released today. Almost 50% of advertised jobs in 2021 showed a salary increase from 2020, and some of these increases were large - 15% or more for some positions.

Who's getting the biggest increase?

Education, telecommunications, and marketing and advertising showed the greatest increases in advertised salaries, with education in particular seeing the biggest jumps at entry level (6%), junior executive level (31.7%), and senior executive level (20%), possibly reflecting the attrition rate and lack of manpower in the sector. These figures come with a caveat, though: salaries in education tend to be low to begin with, so the actual amount of the increase may not be that eye-catching.

The growth in telecommunications salaries, meanwhile, is expected - the sector includes ICT, where the demand for talent has pushed pay higher and higher since the pandemic started, and in fact jobs under the computer/IT specialisation have the highest median salary across all levels and also posted the most job ads last year. Meanwhile, the marketing and advertising sector has been doing well, while banking and finance, which also saw noticeable increases in advertised salaries, is known for constant wage growth.

JobStreet's data also showed, interestingly, that SMEs are more likely to pay more for entry-level and junior roles than corporates - but they will pay less as the positions become more senior.

But not everyone gets a pay rise

36% of advertised jobs last year actually showed a salary decrease from 2020. In particular, the communications services sector - as distinct from telecommunications - saw the greatest decrease, at an average of -13.5% across all positions. Building and construction specialisations also saw a large decrease of 9.1%. And jobs in legal services, oil and gas, and the public service were the most likely to see a drop in advertised salaries.

Senior manager-level roles were most likely to see a decrease or stagnation in advertised salaries, even more so than entry level - possibly reflecting employers' move to cut pay from the top in order to save jobs when the pandemic hit the economy hard. But when there was a pay increase for senior managers, it was also significantly larger than the increase at lower levels, although this may have been skewed by very high salaries in telecommunications in particular.

It's worth noting though that these figures refer to advertised salaries, and not to the final amount actually agreed upon by employers and candidates. JobStreet's data also doesn't distinguish between the base and variable components of salary, meaning that some of the numbers may simply be employers' estimates.