Demand for technical and healthcare jobs on the rise in Singapore

They can command annual salaries of up to $420,000, depending on the role.

Candidates with skills in digital marketing, e-commerce, healthcare, and other technical roles are on the rise despite the overall slowdown of hiring activities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, according to RGF International Recruitment’s latest Salary Watch report on Singapore.

In terms of salary data, the demand for increasingly technical roles is on the rise. The survey found that smart manufacturing application engineers can command up to $60,000 annually at an MNC, whilst business intelligence directors and cybersecurity directors can earn up to $350,000 and $420,000 annually, respectively.

The above also applies to the e-commerce industry, where the adoption of digital tools, such as chatbots and automation technologies, are driving up the demand for high-skilled roles that include digitalisation managers as well as marketing and brand supervisors at MNCs. These roles are able to bring in annual salaries of up to $252,000 and $168,000, respectively.

Demand for healthcare talent has also shot up in Singapore as the expansion of medical facilities led to the need for additional medical personnel. Medical directors can command an annual salary of up to $250,000 a year, whilst R&D Managers can earn up to $140,000 annually in Singapore.

This report is based on responses and research of more than 200,000 candidates, obtained between February 2019 and February 2020.

James Miles, Managing Director, RGF Executive Search Singapore, said although research was ahead of the impact made by pandemic, salaries for highly specialised and in-demand roles will continue to remain high due to the lingering effects of the talent shortage.

“The closure of non-essential services has caused a dip in Singapore’s economic forecast, which in turn has also translated into a slowdown in the hiring landscape—at least for the time being,” said Miles, noting that the government’s support will help these companies bounce back.

“In the meantime, industries such as healthcare and technology continue to experience ramped up hiring, as the demand for these services increases in order to help businesses and the community cope with the impact of the pandemic,” he added.

RGF also found that professionals in Singapore across all industries expect a salary increase of 27% when changing employers—although this figure is expected to decrease over time as the economic effects of COVID-19 are felt across the industries, and candidates begin to understand the longer-term impact it will have in their base salaries.

“However, for those niche roles, we do expect salaries to remain high and candidates to understand their worth on the job market,” he added.

Additionally, the bulk of talent in Singapore indicated that they prefer to work for companies that provide other remuneration benefits, such as performance-based bonuses (76%), guaranteed remuneration such as a fixed bonus and allowance (74%) and profit-sharing scheme such as staff equity (49%).

But monetary compensation is not the only factor Singaporean talent consider, they also look for roles where they can expand their knowledge and skills (61%), take into account the title and responsibilities (43%), and think about aspects such as career advancement opportunities, leadership style, the company’s reputation and the level of work-life balance they will be able to achieve in the role, the report concluded.