Finance vs computer science: Singaporeans debate on best-paying industry in Singapore

SINGAPORE: After a Reddit user asked, “Which industry has the highest pay in Singapore?” many commenters were eager to weigh in, with a large majority saying that it’s a toss-up between finance and computer science.

u/Maleficent-Put7542 appeared to be aware of this, writing on r/askSingapore on Monday (Apr 24), “Like on average, I would say should be finance right? Actually I don’t quite understand why undergrads all chiong to cs, I know the starting pay is slightly higher than other industries, but the big monies are still in finance right.”

“Top dollars in finance are reserved for the top few of the cohort every year. The average finance fresh grad still makes less than the average CS grad.

Also, CS jobs generally have better working hours compared to finance,” wrote one commenter.

Another noted the high pay finance graduates take home. “Citibank private wealth hiring fresh grads at $8k/month. I know a GIC also hiring fresh grads with $10k/month package…. So yeah finance pays well but selectively.”

“Yeap its insane even summer interns this year for JP Morgan in front office roles (Investment Banking, Markets, Private Banking, Corporate Banking, Transaction Banking) are all getting around 12k,” one chimed in.

However, one Reddit user pointed out that it can be difficult to land a finance job.

“Top finance pay are crazy. Think M&A IB and the likes. But it’s crazy hard to get in, you need to be top 0.1% or you need to have connections. This is where you go if you already have a plan in life.”

However, a commenter who has worked in finance, tech and M and A (mergers and acquisitions) pointed out that work-life balance can be different in all three.

“I work in fintech & m&a tech. All parties (finance, m&a, and tech) get paid a good amount. But out of the three, the work-life balance is also pretty different. Finance and m&a people work a lot more than tech. Crazy good pay, but dividing it by the hour .. doesn’t amount to a whole lot. You win some you lose some i guess.”

/TISG

‘Salary higher than fresh U grad, who wants?’ — Cleaner job offer for S$3800/month