Singapore woman wonders if S$8.5K monthly pay is the new norm after hearing what tech workers earn
A woman is focused on a computer with AI machine support in a modern office (for illustration purposes only)
SINGAPORE: One woman has been left feeling rather deflated after realising just how many people around her, particularly those working in tech, are earning upwards of S$8,500 a month.
In a post on the r/singaporeslips forum, she admitted she was struggling to make sense of how commonplace six-figure annual salaries seemed to have become.
“I feel so down. I discovered so many people earning S$8+k around me (Tech). That’s 6 digits annually,” she said. “Is S$8.5k salary the new norm?
Her post quickly ignited discussion among Singaporean Redditors, drawing 129 replies within hours.
One user said salaries of this sort were nothing new, particularly in lucrative industries such as “big tech and investment banking.”
“The average employee there makes five figures a month. You work in government; you won’t see this kind of thing. Just go to the CBD area and see how long the queues are for a 15-dollar salad every day.”
They added, “I don’t mean to offend government workers. It’s just a fact that salaries, on average, in the private sector are higher than in the government, and in lucrative industries, easily more than S$8.5k.”
A fresh graduate working in tech echoed the post author’s observation, noting most of his friends are securing offers of S$8,000/month and above.
“Based on the jobs my friends are getting, they are usually earning S$8,000/month or more. [Some] around more or less than S$5,000. There are way more positions for those earning S$5,000, which most of my friends would immediately turn down.”
“Also, besides starting pay, it's important to look at progression; for example, for those who get an S$8,000 job, the average promotion to the next level is 4-5 years, while for those who get +-S$5,000, it's around 1-2 years.”
A third commenter said they had recently seen reports stating that the “average salary for people in tech is S$8k.”
Newsletter
Get updates straight to your inbox
They cautioned, though, that tech covers a wide range of roles, and not everyone in the industry would command that kind of pay.
“Use it as a benchmark, but don't compare!!” they continued. “There will always be people earning more than you and people earning less than you, haha!. It's just the way it is.”
A fourth added, “Common, but it's because the value of money has dropped. It's equivalent to an S$5K salary in 2020. Think about how much it costs to buy a flat or car now.”/TISG
Read also: ‘Not because of Singapore, but because of my family’: Man dreads returning home from Europe