In a competitive society like Singapore’s, it is so common to hear about how highly paid others are. That’s even more frustrating when we look at our own salary! Just how low is our salary? Just where are those employers who pay more at?
Before we deal with this important question, let’s look at some numbers. It’s always better to make decisions based on numbers.
How Much Do Singaporeans Earn?
Let’s put the obvious out of the way. In 2020, the median income of Singaporeans (without employee CPF contributions) was $4,000. The data was found on Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) statistics website.
The pandemic had messed up jobs and incomes, so let’s look at the longer time horizon.
The median income for Singaporeans has remained as $4,000 in 2019 and 2020. Looking further back, it increased rather steadily at about $200 a year since 2011. If the economy recovers as expected in the later part of 2021, it will continue to rise past $4,000.
What Does Median Income Mean?
For those who are not mathematically inclined, a median is the “middle point”. When we say the “median income of Singaporeans is $4,000”, it means 50% of Singaporeans earn more than $4,000 (or less than $4,000, depending on whether you’re one who sees the glass as half empty or half full).
Here’s a look at the distribution of Singaporeans across the income brackets in percentages.
In the table above, 2% of Singaporeans earned under $500 in 2020; 5% earned between $500 – $999, so on and so forth. By adding up from the left (the lowest income bracket), we will find that 40% earned lower than $2,999 and 54% earned lower than $3,999. This makes the 50% mark lie within the $3,000 – $3,999 bracket.
To simplify matters, it will be assumed that everyone in this bracket belonged to the bottom 50% earners, which would be in line with the $4,000 median income mentioned earlier.
Am I Earning Below Median Income?
Since we’re on the topic of whether you should change your job so that you can earn a higher income, it will be easier if we compare our pay against the 50% who are earning less than $4,000.
In other words, if you’re earning less than $4,000 a month, excluding employer CPF contribution, it means you’re among the less paid 50% of Singaporeans.
However, the situation is complicated. First, let us zoom in to the individual industries.
You’re not earning enough if your salary is below the national median income
Pay Distribution of Singaporeans In Various Industries
Using the same method of breaking down the pay distribution into percentages per industry, I was able to find out which income bracket the 50% mark lies in each industry and therefore, where the income “ceiling” was at for the bottom 50% of their workers.
Out of the 15 sectors listed in MOM’s table, 11 of them had 50% or more workers who were earning less than $4,000.
The 50% mark for each industry is as follows:
| Industry | 50% of Workers Earned Less Than: |
|---|---|
| Accommodation & Food Services | $1,000 – $1,499 |
| Administrative & Support Services | $1,500 – $1,999 |
| Transportation & Storage | $2,000 – $2,499 |
| Other Community, Social & Personal Services | $2,000 – $2,499 |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | $2,500 – $2,999 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | $2,500 – $2,999 |
| Health & Social Services | $2,500 – $2,999 |
| Construction | $3,000 – $3,999 |
| Real Estate Services | $3,000 – $3,999 |
| Others (includes Agriculture, Fishing, Quarrying, Utilities and Sewerage & Waste Management.) | $3,000 – $3,999 |
| Manufacturing | $3,000 – $3,999 |
4 of these 11 sectors, the Construction, Real Estate Services, “Others” and Manufacturing, had their 50% mark within the $3,000 – $3,999 income bracket (56%, 54%, 52% and 50%, respectively). Just like how we made an assumption for the national distribution, to simplify matters, it is assumed that 50% of their workers earned below $3,999, which means 50% of their workers earned below Singapore’s median income in 2020.
Proportion of Singaporeans Working In Various Industries
It is easy to get lost in all these details. Moving back to the bigger picture, we can see that the 12 industries that had more than 50% of their population earning less than the median income represented 65% of Singaporean workers.
Since almost ⅔ of Singaporeans worked in these 11 industries, it also means it is no surprise that you are working in a sector like Accommodation & Food Services, or Transportation & Storage.
However, does this mean that the employers of these 11 industries pay their staff very badly?
The answer is “No”. There is a good reason why workers of these 11 industries tend to earn lower than the national average.
To better understand the other factors that contributed to this “phenomenon”, let’s take a look at the other 4 “highly paid” sectors.
Industries With More Than 50% Workers Earning Higher Than The Median Income
First, the industries where more than 50% of their employees that earn more than the Singaporean median income of $4,000 are:
- Public Administration & Education
- Professional Services
- Information & Communications
- Financial & Insurance Services
For these industries, the percentage of their workers who earned more than $3,999 are:
| Industry | % of Workers earning above $4,000 |
|---|---|
| Public Administration & Education | 63% |
| Professional Services | 64% |
| Information & Communications | 65% |
| Financial & Insurance Services | 70% |
Among them, you do not need a diploma and above to start a career in the Public Administration & Education and Financial & Insurance Services. Even then, you need at least a diploma to be a teacher and teachers make up a significant part of the Public Administration & Education sector.
This means that more than half of the 4 “highly paid” sectors require one to possess at least a diploma.
Qualification plays a big role in the pay that we receive. Using data from MOM, 69% of those with diploma and above earned more than $4,000, compared to 20% for those with lower qualification.
Therefore, one of the main reasons why the “Big 4” industries had between 63% – 70% of their staff earning more than $4,000 was because they employed people with higher qualifications.
69% of those with diploma and above earned more than $4,000, compared to 20% for those with lower qualifications.
The Mindless Pursuit of Academic Qualification
By now, I would have started the controversial debate on basing salary on qualification. There has been a great push for employers to focus less on qualifications these years. Therefore, seeing that the industries that tend to pay higher salaries were those that required their staff to possess at least a diploma seemed atrocious.
However, these tend to be jobs that require talents who are specialised in those areas.
Would you want your children’s teacher to be just an “O” Levels graduate? Would you want the person giving legal advice or processing your legal documents to have at least a diploma in law?
These are the areas where one shows they have expertise in the area by studying in that field to obtain a diploma and higher qualifcation.
Wait a minute, you might say, there’s no need for people to have a diploma and above to be good in computing and to be in the finance industry, right? In principle, that’s true. However, to excel in these areas, one must be strong in mathematics (for both sectors) and science (for ICT).
For example, the banking industry is known to be very competitive; it’s just not good enough to be good in maths at the secondary school level. To beat competition, one must be savvy in advanced mathematics usually only acquired through post-secondary education. The same goes to many other industries.
Therefore, it is possible for one to excel in any industry without tertiary education. The key is to obtain knowledge and skills that puts one ahead of competition. Unfortunately, such knowledge is usually accessible through an Institute of Higher Learning.
Lateral and Vertical Career Transition
Back to the topic of changing jobs to increase one’s salary, it’s very tempting for us who are in the 11 “low paying” industries to want to jump to the 4 “high paying industries” to get that pay raise.
However, like I reasoned, getting that coveted pay raise isn’t simply a jump across industries. There’s also the qualification barrier we have to cross.
I had shared in another post analysing the pay for tech workers in Singapore, that there are 3 ways for us to earn that higher pay by advancing into the tech sector.
I have refined the diagram to better relate to everyone:
Lateral Career Transition for People With Higher Qualifications
The diagram brings focus on where your current situation is. If you have a diploma and above qualification, working in one of the 11 “lowly paid” industries, and your pay is actually lower than the median of $4,000, then it might be worth considering a career switch into the 4 “highly paid” sectors. There’s a high chance you can find a higher paying job after taking a few short courses that “transits” you into the new sector.
Of course, if you only have a diploma, it is also possible to get the pay raise by pursuing a degree that specialises in your current sector. You will avoid the uncertainty of navigating unfamiliar grounds in a new industry that has entirely new game rules and network.
Vertical Career Transition for People With Lower Qualifications
Similarly, if your qualification is below diploma level, it might be easier to consider taking up a diploma course to get a pay raise while staying in the same industry. In fact, SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore, through their “common ancestor” Workforce Development Agency, already have a full suite of WSQ courses spanning almost all sectors in Singapore that can facilitate this.
A WSQ Level 4 course is equivalent to a diploma, and there are WSQ courses in the 12 industries mentioned above (except, perhaps, the fishing and agriculture sub-sector). This means that it is easier for you to find a WSQ Level 4 and above course in your current industry to upgrade your qualification and pay grade simultaneously.
You will avoid the uncertainty of a career switch, and these WSQ courses are usually heavily subsidised (up to 90% for qualified Singaporeans and PRs), can be offset with SkillsFuture Credits, and may also be further offset with NTUC’s UTAP (if you are an NTUC member).
p/s: Non-WSQ SkillsFuture courses are also eligible for course fee subsidies by SSG, as well as SkillsFuture Credits. This means there are a lot more courses that can help you make that upgrade to meet your career aspirations!
If you happen to be a non-diploma holder working in one of the 4 “highly paid” industries, it will definitely be easier to get that pay raise by upgrading yourself. Coupled with your experience in the industry, you will out compete those who are making that career switch into your sector!
Lateral Career Transition for People With Lower Qualifications
Of course, as a non-diploma holder, you might think of jumping across industry, into one that is known to offer higher pays. The “cost” involved is a few short courses and adapting to the new environment. However, like I mentioned earlier, the 4 “highly paid” industries pay higher mainly because their talents have higher education. The jump would only make you join the ranks of the bottom 30% who are earning less than $4,000 in those industries, that is, if they’re even employing at all. There’s also this risk that you will be one of the first staff to be let go when the going gets tough!
How Much More Can I Earn By Making The Career Switch?
If the above sounds too far fetch or hard to grasp, here’s another way for you to consider whether to make that switch and how much your pay would increase if you make that switch.
Assuming that you are an average worker, it means you are earning where 50% of the people in your industry earns. If this sounds familiar, yes, an “average worker” earns the median income.
Earlier, we saw how much an “average worker” is working in each industry.
| Industry | 50% of Workers Earned Less Than: |
|---|---|
| Accommodation & Food Services | $1,000 – $1,499 |
| Administrative & Support Services | $1,500 – $1,999 |
| Transportation & Storage | $2,000 – $2,499 |
| Other Community, Social & Personal Services | $2,000 – $2,499 |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | $2,500 – $2,999 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | $2,500 – $2,999 |
| Health & Social Services | $2,500 – $2,999 |
| Construction | $3,000 – $3,999 |
| Real Estate Services | $3,000 – $3,999 |
| Others (includes Agriculture, Fishing, Quarrying, Utilities and Sewerage & Waste Management.) | $3,000 – $3,999 |
| Manufacturing | $3,000 – $3,999 |
For the “Big 4” industries, their “average worker” falls into the following income bracket.
50% of the workers in these industries earned up to: It’s more likely you can earn a higher income in the Financial & Insurance Services, up to $5,999
| Industry | 50% of the Workers earned up to: |
|---|---|
| Public Administration & Education | $4,000 – $4,999 |
| Professional Services | $4,000 – $4,999 |
| Information & Communications | $4,000 – $4,999 |
| Financial & Insurance Services | $5,000 – $5,999 |
Currently, there are plenty of ICT courses, ranging from short bridging courses to full fledged formal courses available. Most of these courses are also heavily subsidised by SkillsFuture Singapore and IMDA, as Singapore is trying to groom talents in the Infocomm sector.
Therefore, let’s assume you decide to take one of the ICT courses which help you make the career switch into the ICT sector. Depending on the current industry you are at now, you, the “average worker” will see a pay jump as listed below:
| Industry | Income Bracket (Current) | Income Bracket (After) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation & Food Services | $1,000 – $1,499 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $3,500 |
| Administrative & Support Services | $1,500 – $1,999 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $3,000 |
| Transportation & Storage | $2,000 – $2,499 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $2,500 |
| Other Community, Social & Personal Services | $2,000 – $2,499 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $2,500 |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | $2,500 – $2,999 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $2,000 |
| Wholesale & Retail Trade | $2,500 – $2,999 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $2,000 |
| Health & Social Services | $2,500 – $2,999 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $2,000 |
| Construction | $3,000 – $3,999 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $1,000 |
| Real Estate Services | $3,000 – $3,999 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $1,000 |
| Others (includes Agriculture, Fishing, Quarrying, Utilities and Sewerage & Waste Management.) | $3,000 – $3,999 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $1,000 |
| Manufacturing | $3,000 – $3,999 | $4,000 – $4,999 | $1,000 |
Parting Words
Using the median income of Singaporeans as a starting point, we broke down the pay distribution of the 15 sectors that were tracked by the Ministry of Manpower. Of these, 4 sectors had more than 50% of their workers earning above the median income. Therefore, if you are an “average worker” earning the median income of the other 11 industries, it might be worth making that jump to one of the “Big 4” industries.
However, it will be too simplistic to assume that one can get a pay raise simply by switching to a job in the “Big 4” industries. These 4 industries tend to employ graduates of diploma and higher qualifications. Therefore, it is prudent to understand your own position (do you have a diploma qualification and above?) and where you want to be (does the job in the new industry require you to have a diploma qualification and above?). Following that, plan the transition by taking up the relevant courses that help you cross over to “the other side”.
That being said, one shouldn’t think of switching industries simply for money. The “Big 4” are worth switching into because they are seeing potential growth in the future, which provides for better job security. However, there are industries in the other 11 industries, like Manufacturing, that are also seeing a refresh as it advances into high value add manufacturing services, and these are industries that are worth staying too.
Taking that into consideration, it might be easier if you just stayed in your own industry and upgrade your qualification with one of the SkillsFuture courses available.
If you find this post useful, remember to Like and Share it on your social media. There are many other ways to level up your employability, and revamping your Skills Passport is one of the ways. Similarly, understanding the industries and knowing which one is expected to see high growth in the near future will also help. Finally, seek out the skills that are high in demand – you might not need to switch into a new industry, if you can find a position in your current industry that looks for one of those highly in demand skills!
Till then, stay fighting!
Read More: What’s in store for jobseekers in 2021 under the SGUnited scheme?
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