How tech talent salaries will continue to fare in Singapore in 2022

The median base salary compensation stands at S$4,750 for a junior software engineer; S$6,500 and S$7,500 respectively for mid-level and senior software engineers, and S$9,000 for lead levels.

In the last twelve months, the average salaries for software engineers in Singapore reached an all-time high following an increase of up to 32%, the new Tech Talent Compensation report 2021/2022 has revealed.

For example, the report, published today (Monday, 14 February 2022) by NodeFlair and Quest Ventures, noted that the median base salary compensation stands at S$4,750 for a junior software engineer; S$6,500 and S$7,500 respectively for mid-level and senior software engineers, and S$9,000 for lead levels.

Meanwhile, at the 90^th percentile, the median base salary can be as much as three times more than those in the 10^th percentile, the report found. For instance, junior software engineers at the 90^th percentile have gone up to S$7,500; mid-level and senior software engineers can command S$9,500 and S$11,500 respectively, and lead software engineers can command a base salary of S$15,950.

Per the report, this rise in tech salaries is "not slowing down anytime soon", as more talents place importance on salary packages a top reason when looking for new opportunities.

In line with that, the report showcased the following salary ranges for key tech roles in Singapore:

Mobile engineer

• Junior: S$3,250-S$7,000
• Mid-level: S$4,500-S$9,000
• Senior-level: S$5,500-S$11,000
• Lead: S$6,250-S$13,500

Data engineer

• Junior: S$3,150-S$8,500
• Mid-level: S$5,500-S$10,000
• Senior-level: S$6,750-S$12,500
• Lead: S$7,500-S$15,000

Data analyst

• Junior: S$2,750-S$6,500
• Mid-level: S$4,000-S$9,000
• Senior-level: S$5,000-S$10,750

Quality assurance

• Junior: S$2,550-S$6,000
• Mid-level: S$3,250-S$8,735
• Senior-level: S$4,250-S$10,500
• Lead: S$5,250-S$15,000

DevOp

• Junior: S$4,000-S$8,500
• Mid-level: S$5,500-S$10,500
• Senior-level: S$6,250-S$11,666

Cybersecurity engineer

• Junior: S$3,000-S$6,000
• Mid-level: S$4,250-S$9,000
• Senior-level: S$4,750-S$15,500

Solutions engineer

• Junior: S$3,100-S$9,500
• Mid-level: S$4,250-S$13,500
• Senior-level: S$6,750-S$16,000

Software engineer

• Junior: S$3,000-S$7,500
• Mid-level: S$4,250-S$9,500
• Senior-level: S$5,250-S$11,500
• Lead: S$6,500-S$15,950
• Principal: S$6,700-S$17,000
• Manager: S$7,000-S$21,000

Top 15 most popular companies among Singapore tech talent

In addition to the above, the report showcased the top 15 most-searched companies among Singapore tech talent, and analysed how well these companies paid software engineers vs the market rate. 

Per the report, nine out of 15 (60%) of these companies paid the talents more than, or equal to, 25% above the market's median. Overall, most paid more than, or equal to, 12% above the market's media. 

These companies are:

1. GovTech
2. Shioee
3. ByteDance
4. Grab
5. Google
6. Facebook
7. DBS
8. Goldman Sachs
9. Amazon Web Services
10. J.P. MOrgan Chase & Co.
11. Amazon
12. Apple
13. foodpanda
14. PayPal
15. VISA

Salary snapshot: What tech talent could earn in Indonesia 

• Junior: S$426-S$1,185
• Mid-level: S$474-S$1,706
• Senior-level: S$783-S$2,369
• Lead: Insufficient data available.

Salary snapshot: What tech talent could earn in India 

• Junior: S$341-S$3,406
• Mid-level: S$530-S$4,163
• Senior-level: S$681-S$4,920
• Lead: S$1,363-S$8,913

Note: To facilitate regional comparison, salary data is in SGD, using an exchange rate of 1DR = 0.0000947716 SGD (31st Dec, Xe.com), provided by NodeFlair and Quest Ventures.

Methodology

Salary data for the report were derived from NodeFlair’s proprietary database of over 30,000 data points from companies of all sizes and industries. This included user submissions verified by documents (payslips and offer letters) as well as job advertisements from various aggregated from various job portals for the year 2021.

Meanwhile, salary data for India and Indonesia were derived from over 5,300 data points from companies of all sizes and industries.

These data are from job postings in these countries for the period of Q4 of 2021.

Titles and seniority might vary across companies. For example, smaller startups might reward the title of senior software engineer to an engineer with three years of experience, but a much more established company might only reward the same title to someone with more than eight years of experience.

Junior: Typically have zero to two years of experience. Mostly fresh graduates or engineers in their first job.

Mid: Typically have two to five+ years of experience. Able to mentor juniors and lead small-scale projects end-to-end.

Senior: Typically have five+ years of experience. Expected to own complex technical initiatives and have more responsibility in designing rather than implementing.

Principal: Have deep practical experience gained and mostly answer directly to the senior management of their company. Titles include “principal engineer” and “staff engineer”

Lead: Main responsibilities include leading a small team in the technical areas. Might occasionally be involved in people management, but much less common. Titles include “technical lead” and “team lead”.

Manager: Main responsibilities include hiring and people management. Titles include “engineering manager” and “software development manager”.

Director: Have a deep understanding of the market and latest technologies. Main responsibilities include innovation and providing technical direction for the company. Titles include “CTO”, “director of engineering”, “V.P./president of engineering (excluding some banking and government organisations)”, “head of engineering” etc.