Thinking of a career change? Here are some of the best paying careers in Singapore right now.

Singapore economy was on a tear in 2017 expanding by more than 2.5% at the back of a turnaround in the manufacturing sector. Local employment grew modestly as unemployment rose.

Amidst the slow but steady growth, Accounting, Banking and Finance, Healthcare and life sciences, information technology and legal industries, emerged as sectors of the economy with the best paying jobs.

Economic activities in Singapore are slowly shifting to online a move that has affected both employees and employers. As it stands, workers in the country need to empower themselves with new skills as jobs change. Companies, on the other hand, need to be innovative as a way of adapting to changing ecosystem in a bid to remain competitive.

 

Accounting

Accountants are the backbone of corporate Singapore given that business leaders are in constant pursuit of their services as they seek to understand their businesses. These professionals provide valuable advice when it comes to matters pertaining to strategy, finance, capital funding, risk management and governance.

Demand for accountancy professionals is poised to grow in the wake of the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community last year. More work should crop up involving regional cross-border debt restructuring as well as complex projects requiring accountancy services support.

Senior Accounts Manager/ Account Manager with a 3-5 year experience and a degree/diploma certification were in high demand in 2017. The post commanded a minimum monthly wage of S$5000 and a maximum wage of S$9000. Senior accounts Executive with a degree/diploma certification and 3-5 year experience followed a close second with a minimum wage of S$3,500 and a maximum wage of S$4,500.

In the Finance department, the Chief Financial post with a degree /master qualification and 15-20 year experience commanded a minimum monthly wage of S$15,000 rising to highs of $25,000. A finance controller post in the same department with the same qualifications commanded a minimum monthly pay of S$8,000 and maximum pay of S$16,000.

Accounts payable officer/ Assistant, Accounts Receivable Assistant, Accounts Assistant, Finance Assistant are some of the posts in the industry that require as little as 1 year experience for one to earn as much as S$2,500 a month.

 

Banking & Finance

Being the financial hub of Asia, Singapore’s banking and financial experts emerged as some of the best paid in the region. Singapore boasts of over 1200 financial institutions providing a wide array of services ranging from banking, insurance investment banking and treasury services.

The outlook in the sector has improved in recent years thanks to a recovery in oil prices. The country’s banks were negatively affected by a slump in oil prices to multi-year lows in 2016.

Fintech has emerged as the fastest growing area of the industry as the government continues to roll out new initiatives designed to accelerate growth.

 

Post	Qualification	Experience (years)	Salary Min (S$)	Salary Max (S$)
Compliance
Head of Compliance	Degree/Master	8-10	10,000	18,000
Associate, Finance Controls	Degree	5-8	4,400	6,000
Finance
Business Analyst	Degree	5-8	6,000	9,000
Financial Analyst	Degree	5-8	5,500	8,000
Insurance
Underwriter	Degree	4-7	5,000	7,500
Operations
Manager/Assistant Manager	Degree	10-12	7,000	8,500
Banking Senior Officer / Officer	Diploma / Degree	5-10	4,000	6,500
Bank Teller / Service Executive	Diploma	2-4	2,300	3,200
Risk
Vice President	Degree / Master	8-10	10,000	17,000
Senior Manager / Manager	Degree / Master	4-7	5,000	10,000
Risk Analyst	Diploma / Degree	1-3	3,000	5,000

 

Healthcare and Life Sciences

Singapore is in the process of expanding and improving polyclinics and family medicine clinics. Plans are already underway to build more community hospitals, nursing homes, and senior care centers. The initiative is expected to result in 30,000 new jobs for healthcare workers, with 10, 000 expected to provide services in the eldercare sector.

Healthcare and Life Sciences has some of the best paying jobs in Singapore given that all the top 10 medical technology companies have regional headquarters in the country.

Director/ Nursing post was the highest paying role in the sector, whereby professionals with 8-10 years walked away with as much as S$11000 a month. In second was the laboratory manager role whereby providers earned as much as S$8,500 and as little as S$6,000 a month. With as little as 1-2 year experience, a Chiropractic assistant earned as much as S$2,000 a month as paramedics walked home with S$2,500 a month with 2-3 years’ experience.

Clinic assistant with 1-2 year experience earned as much as S$3,000 a month as a dental assistant with the same experience walked home with S$2,500. Laboratory assistant post with a diploma and 1-2 year experience can fetch one as much as S$3,000 a month.

 

Information Technology

Singapore is home to some of the fastest growing Information technology companies in the world. Revenue growth in the sector has more than doubled over the last 5 years and so have the pay perks of employees.

Companies in the industry are mostly engaged in the business of coming up with network equipment used by telecoms data caters and application developers. Job opportunities with exciting pay packages are slowly cropping up as demand for people with Cybersecurity, data analytics, and network infrastructure continues to grow.

A project administrator with a diploma/ degree and 1-2 year experience stands a chance of walking away with as much as S$3,000 a month. IT security experts on the other hand with 2-4 years’ experience and a degree can earn as much as S$4,800 a month. Experienced Cybersecurity can fetch as much as S$12,000 as Network infrastructure manager posts fetch S$7,500

Project Administrator, SAP Basis administrator, IT Support Engineer, posts require a minimum of 1-2 year experience from which a qualified personnel can earn more than S$2,000 a month.

 

Legal

Demand for legal service is on the rise, as Singapore continues to affirm its position as the financial and technology hub. The country boasts of a strong legal system that has seen 40 of its law firms emerge in the top 100 law firms in the world in terms of revenue generation.

The field boasts of some of the paying jobs of which people with more than 5 years’ are always guaranteed of bumper pay packages for their services.

A general counsel with 10-15 years’ experience stands to earn as much as S$20,000 with legal counsel walking way with as much SS$16,000 a month. Corporate secretariat assistant with 1-2 year experience can earn as much as S$3,000 a month as paralegal’s professionals with 3-5 years’ experience walk away with S$4, 000-S$5,000 a month.

 

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(By Ruchi Gupta)

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