IT employees can earn as much as $120,000 in 2018

The highest salaries are being offered to project managers, security specialists, and business analysts.

IT employees, specifically project managers, can get as much as $120,000 for a median wage, specialised recruiter Robert Half revealed. According to its 2018 Robert Half Salary Guide, companies seek skilled workers that can manage business-critical projects from concept to completion.

Meanwhile, IT security specialists can earn a median wage of $100,000. “The escalating cost and frequency of cyber-attacks have resulted in organisations increasingly relying on IT security experts, pushing companies to take a pre-emptive approach to discovering and tracking security issues,” Robert Half said.

CIOs are willing to pay $96,000 to business analysts as the demand is high but the supply is low. “In a digitised market, and with businesses focused on gaining insights as to how to grow their business, employment options for business analysts will continue to increase in Singapore,” the firm added.

The report also revealed that bosses are willing to raise starting salaries for top IT professionals to secure talent in a skills-short market. More than six in 10 (63%) CIOs are willing to pay a higher starting salary to IT jobseekers with previous project experience, followed by more than four in 10 (45%) who would do the same for skilled candidates with previous experience in product/service launches.

Previous team-lead experience closely follows with 41%. Lastly, soft skills (32%) ranks slightly higher than education (31%) as a key factor for which CIOs are willing to offer their IT staff a higher starting salary.

Robert Half Singapore managing director Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard commented, “In Singapore, the demand for qualified professionals in RPA, AI, IT security and data analytics has surged as companies are adopting new technologies to remain competitive. Technology candidates with such backgrounds find themselves in high demand, and most IT employers in Singapore understand they need to offer above-average salary increases or risk losing them to the competition.”

Moreover, employers realise they have to pre-empt their current IT top performers staff being enticed to new roles with more attractive salary packages, especially in a market where 92% of Singaporean CIOs find it challenging to source qualified IT professionals.

The research shows 92% of Singapore’s CIOs plan to allocate pay rises to an average of 15% of their IT staff, with the average increase expected to be 7%, well above the national average of national wage growth of 4.3%.

Imbert-Bouchard added, “Aware of their market value, top IT professionals in Singapore are actively being approached by competitors willing to offer them a more attractive remuneration package that goes beyond a competitive salary, including flexible work hours, remote working and career progression prospects. IT employers, therefore, need to not only regularly review salaries to ensure they are at or above industry rates, but also consider offering non-financial incentives, such as work-life balance initiatives and professional development, in order to attract and retain high-calibre IT talent.”