SINGAPORE: With everyone focused on entering the tech industry today, is the tech job market truly saturated? A Redditor asks fellow Singaporeans, ‘How is the job market for you at the moment?’
He shared: “Currently working in a GLC as an MLE/DS. Want to change companies but can’t seem to even land an interview despite having 7 years of experience in my field with a degree from a NUS and master’s NTU. Is the job market as bad for you all as it is for me? Any advice or leads you can share?”
Redditor YukiSnoww mentioned, “Horrible for all, worse for tech tho.”
Another chimed in, sharing, “Gonna be worse for the hordes of CS fresh grads who jumped on the bandwagon the past few years.”
User wakkawakkaaaa shared some dire news, noting, “Bad. Definitely the worst in the last 5 to 10 years. But depends on your expectations. Much worse for juniors though. Not FAANG material or adjacent here but earning better than average. Talked to a lot of recruiters and its mostly shit to meh tier recruiting: contracting, consulting body shop, low tech SME & cash strapped startups.”
Noting the influence of ranking while sharing his very own experience in the tech job market, wakkawakkaaaa added: “If you’re not in the top quartile for your YOE on renumeration then you probably can find something which can work for you, especially if you don’t mind working for clownshops. 5yoe here, got laid off, recently sent about 100 applications over 2 months, about 15 percent callback (including recruiter phone screen), roughly 10 percent landed first interview, 3 offers, 2 with negligible pay bump, 1 low balled.”
rustyleak, sharing the work trend in tech today, said: “A recruiter friend told me short term contracts and consulting are on trend nowadays. What will suck is this kind of arrangement will need domain specific requirements and no honeymoon period to ease you into the job. Definitely not for fresh grads.”
Redditor Worth_Savings4337 shared something every S’porean in the tech industry fears, “Tech market has already saturated imo.”
Prize_Used agreed saying, “yeah it should be, for the past like 3-4 years everyone and the mothers are jumping on the bandwagon due to the highly inflated salaries. There must come to a point where by the market can no longer accommodate that many newcomers before the salaries normalizes itself.”
What does the report say?
Although many Singaporeans in tech fear that the tech industry is saturated, according to a report by CNBC, Singapore’s tech industry is showing resilience despite recent layoffs.
Major banks like OCBC, DBS, and UOB are running programs to train tech staff and students, with OCBC planning to hire 1,500 tech employees by 2025.
The demand for tech jobs remains high, accounting for nearly 70% of new vacancies 2022. Specialized tech roles, such as AI and cybersecurity, are sought after across various industries.
Looking forward, it is safe to say that Singapore’s role as a tech hub continues to drive this demand.