reporter2
06-10-21, 13:14
Tech firms offer mouth-watering pay as they ramp up on Singapore hiring
Scarce talent and competition with incumbents mean that tech players have to sweeten the deal
Oct 06, 2021
Olivia Poh
Sharanya Pillai
Claudia Chong
THE stubborn shortage of specialised talent is pushing tech companies to raise salary offers for roles such as software engineers, with some even doling out startling pay increases for top hires.
In just the last six months, the median monthly salary for lead software engineers has risen 11.8 per cent to S$9,500 in the third quarter, according to data from tech career platform NodeFlair, which aggregated Q3 salary figures based on over 5,600 data points from job listings and user submissions supported by payslips or offer letters.
At the 90th percentile, salaries for lead engineers have gone up to an eye-popping S$16,000, from S$12,000 in the first quarter. But the rise is not limited to top-tier talent, as entry-level, mid and senior software engineer salaries have also increased (see first chart). Based on NodeFlair's data, typical entry-level software engineers can command salaries anywhere from S$3,000 to S$7,250.
"The demand for talent is at an all-time-high right now, where companies are offering crazy amounts just to attract talents from other companies," said Adrian Goh, co-founder of NodeFlair. Some talents are seeing their salary rise by 50 per cent or even nearly doubling when they switch jobs, compared to increments of between 10 and 30 per cent last year.
The talent war is amplified at the top. C-suite-level executives with experience managing listed companies are being aggressively poached, as the latest cohort of unicorns vie to beef up their ranks before heading for the public markets. This week, news surfaced that Grab had poached Sats chief executive Alex Hungate to be its new chief operating officer.
Traditional companies, government agencies and SMEs are also hopping on the digital bandwagon, competing with the region's top startups for the same skilled engineers and C-suite talent. Last month, HSBC hired Aman Narain, who was part of the team that launched Google Pay in Singapore, as its head of platforms for global commercial banking.
https://i.imgur.com/I7XGvtB.jpg
The jostling between startups and old-economy companies for talent is one catalyst for the salary increases. Another is the fact that South-east Asian unicorns continue to amass capital from optimistic investors, and are busy bolstering their teams to accelerate product development.
But the most fundamental reason is still a shortage of talent, especially as closed borders make it harder to bring in foreign talent. Specialised and experienced candidates who can "plug and play" are in huge demand, since "skill gaps are too urgent and timelines are very compressed", said Elena Chow, founder of talent consultancy ConnectOne.
Specific roles in demand include developers versed in the programming language Go, as many companies are looking to build scalable microservices with it, NodeFlair's Mr Goh said.
Crypto and fintech companies are also in need of these developers.
The role of the product manager is another one in short supply, because of its interdisciplinary nature.
Beyond the tech know-how, there is a "need to possess strong communication capability, people management skills, strong technical development and sound commercial sense," noted Sam Lee, partner at Paloe, who has advised many startups.
Monthly salaries for product managers can range between S$8,000 and S$12,000, he said. Another specialised role, senior data scientists, can likewise command salaries of S$8,000 to S$16,000.
There has been an influx of applicants for such tech roles, with tech bootcamps churning out graduates. But Mr Lee reckons that experienced tech executives are still difficult to find. In addition, smaller businesses or traditional players who do not have the budget for such tech talent might inadvertently be priced out, making it even harder for them to compete in an increasingly digital world.
Unsurprisingly, the talent crunch might not be alleviated for years due to the difficulty of training people for these specialised roles. Meanwhile, job openings across different stages of technology companies have risen more than three times since May 2020, data from ConnectOne's March report showed.
US and China tech companies entering the region - including TikTok, Tencent, Alibaba and Zoom - are also more likely to pay above-market rates for tech talent, said Oswald Yeo, chief executive and co-founder of job platform Glints (see second chart). "In some cases, they have offered exceptionally high and attractive remuneration packages for high performers."
In order to keep pace, smaller upstarts are trying to differentiate themselves by promising staff future equity in the form of restricted stock units or employee stock ownership plans.
Here, startup founders are hoping that these top talents will take a chance on them, in exchange for an ownership stake that could make them rich if the company is successful.
https://i.imgur.com/VqnXbGr.png
Telco startup Circles.Life is boosting its Singapore headcount, which currently stands at close to 250, by 25 to 35 per cent over the next 12 months. Part of its employment package includes stock ownership and an internal secondary market for liquidity, said co-founder Adeel Najam.
The company offers top performing employees up to eight months' salary worth of stock options that are immediately vested. All staff are offered two months' salary worth of stock options each year.
"Startups should make known to prospective candidates their founder's mission... When mission and motivation collide, startup founders might just be able to beat the more established companies to A-talent," said ConnectOne's Ms Chow.
Scarce talent and competition with incumbents mean that tech players have to sweeten the deal
Oct 06, 2021
Olivia Poh
Sharanya Pillai
Claudia Chong
THE stubborn shortage of specialised talent is pushing tech companies to raise salary offers for roles such as software engineers, with some even doling out startling pay increases for top hires.
In just the last six months, the median monthly salary for lead software engineers has risen 11.8 per cent to S$9,500 in the third quarter, according to data from tech career platform NodeFlair, which aggregated Q3 salary figures based on over 5,600 data points from job listings and user submissions supported by payslips or offer letters.
At the 90th percentile, salaries for lead engineers have gone up to an eye-popping S$16,000, from S$12,000 in the first quarter. But the rise is not limited to top-tier talent, as entry-level, mid and senior software engineer salaries have also increased (see first chart). Based on NodeFlair's data, typical entry-level software engineers can command salaries anywhere from S$3,000 to S$7,250.
"The demand for talent is at an all-time-high right now, where companies are offering crazy amounts just to attract talents from other companies," said Adrian Goh, co-founder of NodeFlair. Some talents are seeing their salary rise by 50 per cent or even nearly doubling when they switch jobs, compared to increments of between 10 and 30 per cent last year.
The talent war is amplified at the top. C-suite-level executives with experience managing listed companies are being aggressively poached, as the latest cohort of unicorns vie to beef up their ranks before heading for the public markets. This week, news surfaced that Grab had poached Sats chief executive Alex Hungate to be its new chief operating officer.
Traditional companies, government agencies and SMEs are also hopping on the digital bandwagon, competing with the region's top startups for the same skilled engineers and C-suite talent. Last month, HSBC hired Aman Narain, who was part of the team that launched Google Pay in Singapore, as its head of platforms for global commercial banking.
https://i.imgur.com/I7XGvtB.jpg
The jostling between startups and old-economy companies for talent is one catalyst for the salary increases. Another is the fact that South-east Asian unicorns continue to amass capital from optimistic investors, and are busy bolstering their teams to accelerate product development.
But the most fundamental reason is still a shortage of talent, especially as closed borders make it harder to bring in foreign talent. Specialised and experienced candidates who can "plug and play" are in huge demand, since "skill gaps are too urgent and timelines are very compressed", said Elena Chow, founder of talent consultancy ConnectOne.
Specific roles in demand include developers versed in the programming language Go, as many companies are looking to build scalable microservices with it, NodeFlair's Mr Goh said.
Crypto and fintech companies are also in need of these developers.
The role of the product manager is another one in short supply, because of its interdisciplinary nature.
Beyond the tech know-how, there is a "need to possess strong communication capability, people management skills, strong technical development and sound commercial sense," noted Sam Lee, partner at Paloe, who has advised many startups.
Monthly salaries for product managers can range between S$8,000 and S$12,000, he said. Another specialised role, senior data scientists, can likewise command salaries of S$8,000 to S$16,000.
There has been an influx of applicants for such tech roles, with tech bootcamps churning out graduates. But Mr Lee reckons that experienced tech executives are still difficult to find. In addition, smaller businesses or traditional players who do not have the budget for such tech talent might inadvertently be priced out, making it even harder for them to compete in an increasingly digital world.
Unsurprisingly, the talent crunch might not be alleviated for years due to the difficulty of training people for these specialised roles. Meanwhile, job openings across different stages of technology companies have risen more than three times since May 2020, data from ConnectOne's March report showed.
US and China tech companies entering the region - including TikTok, Tencent, Alibaba and Zoom - are also more likely to pay above-market rates for tech talent, said Oswald Yeo, chief executive and co-founder of job platform Glints (see second chart). "In some cases, they have offered exceptionally high and attractive remuneration packages for high performers."
In order to keep pace, smaller upstarts are trying to differentiate themselves by promising staff future equity in the form of restricted stock units or employee stock ownership plans.
Here, startup founders are hoping that these top talents will take a chance on them, in exchange for an ownership stake that could make them rich if the company is successful.
https://i.imgur.com/VqnXbGr.png
Telco startup Circles.Life is boosting its Singapore headcount, which currently stands at close to 250, by 25 to 35 per cent over the next 12 months. Part of its employment package includes stock ownership and an internal secondary market for liquidity, said co-founder Adeel Najam.
The company offers top performing employees up to eight months' salary worth of stock options that are immediately vested. All staff are offered two months' salary worth of stock options each year.
"Startups should make known to prospective candidates their founder's mission... When mission and motivation collide, startup founders might just be able to beat the more established companies to A-talent," said ConnectOne's Ms Chow.