Singapore Expats

Average salaries in Singapore

Discuss about getting a well paid job or career advancement. Ask about salaries, expat packages, CPF & taxes for expatriate.
Post Reply
User avatar
jpatokal
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3004
Joined: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 9:38 pm
Location: Terra Australis Incognita

Post by jpatokal » Wed, 16 May 2007 5:34 pm

meth wrote:Thanks for the reply. Well at the moment i am a contractor so earn a daily rate of £500 GBP so if i worked a year in UK i would earn £120,000 GBP but as a contractor you cant look at it like that.
Using the "charge double your salary" rule, that would be roughly equivalent to a salary of £60,000, or around SGD 180,000. So in that case yes, you're right, it's not a very good deal for you. (Do bear in mind, though, that Sing taxation is quite a bit lighter than in the UK, although cars and education cost more.)
As i have a house in UK and they are not offering a re-location package i was wondering if that is a good salary to live on.
You'd probably want to look into renting out your UK house and renting one in Sing yourself; property prices are insane here at the moment.
Vaguely heretical thoughts on travel technology at Gyrovague

rallen
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun, 20 May 2007 2:11 pm

Post by rallen » Sun, 20 May 2007 2:33 pm

Hi guys,

My UK company will be sending me over to Singapore soon, for a number of years, and would like to know which of the following are considered "standard" in a expat deals and which are "you'd be lucky to get it".

(1) Flights home - business class and how many return trips per year?
if you have a family how are they covered?

(2) Salary - paid in UK or in Singapore? My company can do either, it seems whatever they do they will try to keep me on the same net income as I receive in the UK. So if my UK net income is, say, 1000 pounds a month, they will make it so that my Singapore net income is also 1000 pounds a month (about $3000) - is this practice common?

(3) Housing allowance - currently they are offering it, but have not seen how much it is. Rent prices are skyrocketting at the moment - what should they offer to a single person? $3000 pm? $5000 ? (and how much if there is a family too, say 2 kids)

(4) Family considerations - if you have kids - should they pay for private schools? After all would I want my kids to go to any school other than one that follows the British curriculum? Should I be expected to cover the school fees myself ? Are there state schools in Singapore and could they (my company) potentially ask me to send kids to state schools? So far I have only identified one school I would not mind sending my kids to.

(5) Any other bits which I am forgetting, please comment :)

Thanks

User avatar
jpatokal
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3004
Joined: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 9:38 pm
Location: Terra Australis Incognita

Post by jpatokal » Sun, 20 May 2007 8:52 pm

rallen wrote:My UK company will be sending me over to Singapore soon, for a number of years, and would like to know which of the following are considered "standard" in a expat deals and which are "you'd be lucky to get it".
1) One home leave trip per year is standard, in economy unless you're enough of a hotshot that the company flies you around in biz for work too. Family may or may not be covered.

2) It's still the same amount of money innit? Most people find it more convenient to be paid in Singapore, and it also eliminates the risk of currency fluctuations.

3) Housing allowance is and should be considered a part of your salary, there's no standard rate.

4) Full expat packages include private schooling for kids. There are state schools, but most expats only resort to them out of financial necessity.
Vaguely heretical thoughts on travel technology at Gyrovague

brent
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 2:09 am

salary

Post by brent » Mon, 02 Jul 2007 2:19 am

I am getting an offer for approx Sing $280,000 per annum gross. Is this good , not so good?? Can one live comfortably with a house (resonably close..15-20 mins drive from orchard), car etc with enough savings?? How much can one expect to save? (I know this is a subjective q, but assume average living)

User avatar
jpatokal
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3004
Joined: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 9:38 pm
Location: Terra Australis Incognita

Re: salary

Post by jpatokal » Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:58 pm

brent wrote:I am getting an offer for approx Sing $280,000 per annum gross. Is this good , not so good?? Can one live comfortably with a house (resonably close..15-20 mins drive from orchard), car etc with enough savings?? How much can one expect to save? (I know this is a subjective q, but assume average living)
Please do a little homework instead of expecting us to do it for you... :?
Vaguely heretical thoughts on travel technology at Gyrovague

newuser2050
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 1:18 am

How much does a army general earns?

Post by newuser2050 » Tue, 03 Jul 2007 1:20 am

Hi.
I wonder how much does a Singapore army officer earn? A captain, major, and so on? This information is publicly available somewhere?
Thank you.

User avatar
prkravi
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 273
Joined: Wed, 07 Mar 2007 5:19 pm

Curious

Post by prkravi » Thu, 05 Jul 2007 3:13 pm

Brent, No offense, just curious, what sort of a Job / Profile can fetch S$280000 PA?

Shaamel
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun, 08 Jul 2007 1:55 pm
Location: 3, Anson Road, Springleaf towers
Contact:

SAP Consultants get paid handsomely

Post by Shaamel » Sun, 08 Jul 2007 2:19 pm

An experienced SAP Consultant earns anything between $500 per day to $1000 per day. Freshers(Certified ) who opt for initial SAP experience of about 1 or 2 years will have to be content with a salary range of 2K to 5K per month. Ofcourse, the picture gets very clear once the fresher tag is removed.
Muhammad Shaamel email : [email protected]

Michale Crown
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 9:07 pm

Post by Michale Crown » Fri, 03 Aug 2007 9:25 pm

For Careers & Jobs, Singapore is the Prefect place....! :D

User avatar
Gemsie
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri, 06 Jul 2007 5:26 am
Location: NY

Post by Gemsie » Sat, 04 Aug 2007 1:49 am

so I'm guessing an offer for salary of S$88,000 is not enough to live comfortable in Singapore. I have read how much the rents are going up and was just wondering if this is a good enough salary or not, I wont be getting housing allowance either.

User avatar
letschillout
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 12:57 pm
Location: Singapore

Post by letschillout » Thu, 09 Aug 2007 4:20 pm

The top 24 according to the U.S. Department of Labor:

1. Surgeon: $181,850

2. Anesthesiologist: $174,610

3. OB/GYN: $174,610

4. Oral and maxillofacial surgeon: $169,600

5. Internist: $156,790

6. Prosthodontist: $156,710

7. Orthodontist: $153,240

8. Psychiatrist: $151,380

9. Chief Executive Officer: $140,880

10. Engineering Manager: $140,210

11. Pediatrician: $140,000

12. Family or general practitioner: $137,980

13. Physician/surgeon, all other: $137,100

14. Airline Pilot: $134,090

15. Dentist: $132,660

16. Podiatrist: $111,130

17. Lawyer: $110,590

18. Dentist, any other specialist: $106,040

19. Air Traffic Controller: $100,430

20. Computer and Information Systems Manager: $100,110

21. Marketing Manager: $100,020

22. Natural Sciences Manager: $97,560

23. Sales Manager: $96,950

24. Astronomer: $96,780

User avatar
Austin512TX
Regular
Regular
Posts: 91
Joined: Mon, 28 May 2007 5:11 pm

Re: Expat package? Which year are we in?

Post by Austin512TX » Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:55 am

Hesione wrote: I am earning over $120,000 annually (after tax and after my portion of the CPF deduction) working in the advertising industry, earning far more than double what my "foreign talent" partner earns. That should give most of you an indication as to whether your pay package is good enough for you to want to be in Singapore.
lucky you, you would hire me then? i'm in advertising industry as well :D

Taylormade
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 3:30 pm
Location: Shanghai

Post by Taylormade » Thu, 16 Aug 2007 3:40 pm

First, thank you all for contributing to this forum and this topic, it has been most interesting to read.

So ironic, I am an expert in salaries myself but only for the China market. I am an executive recruitment consultant for the banking industry based in Shanghai.

I have Singaporean/Malaysian Chinese roots and grew up in Holland, a Dutch citizen. Currently in Shanghai on a yearly package of 340K RMB (net), which is around 68K S$ (local + package, meaning salary plus housing).

I have been contacted by a recruitment firm in Singapore and we will enter salary negotiations quickly.

My problem? I do not have a clue of what to ask for. I was thinking of 100K S$ (net), but I am not sure whether this is acceptable.

My first question, anyone here in this industry?
Second question, what do you think about my salary expectations?
Thanks.

nananxyz
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 4:16 pm
Location: Chennai, India

Re: Ave Salaries

Post by nananxyz » Sun, 19 Aug 2007 1:42 pm

smithy wrote:
Due to the laws of supply and demand, perceived prestige and, yes, racism, Caucasians tend to get paid comparatively more, while Indians and Filipinos tend to get paid comparatively less.
This is not racism. Its more like laws of physics. By caucasian, you mean people who come from countries like the US, England or Holland, etc. The salaries in these countries are higher than salaries from countries like China, Phillipines and Vietnam. They won't be working in Singapore if they did not get an attractive renumeration package in Singapore. Similarly, the employer would not pay that money unless they think this person has something to offer the establishment. Thus, the caucasians that come here are usually the fairly talented ones. Usually.

On the other hand, the average Phillipino, for example, would find most jobs in Singapore attractive. Naturally, that means you will find more phillipinos in lower-end jobs.

It does not mean talented Phillipinos get less money than their counterparts from England or the US though. I know of two such cases. Both were Indonesians. One works for a well-known financial institution and the other is an old guy who is a lecturer at a university here, among other things. Both are filthy rich.

Hi,

My name is Narayanan and i am a lecturer from India. Since you know of a lecturer who is working in an University there, can you tell me what is the average salary of a lecturer there in singapore

Thanking you

User avatar
Superglide
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 450
Joined: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 2:56 pm
Location: In a spacious appartment

Post by Superglide » Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:48 pm

letschillout wrote:The top 24 according to the U.S. Department of Labor:

20. Computer and Information Systems Manager: $100,110

21. Marketing Manager: $100,020

23. Sales Manager: $96,950
No offense, but this list is completely useless.

A sales manager of high end IT services could earn more than three times the salary of a retail sales person. If not ten times more.

Same for the marketing manager.
Taylormade wrote:My problem? I do not have a clue of what to ask for. I was thinking of 100K S$ (net), but I am not sure whether this is acceptable.

My first question, anyone here in this industry?
Second question, what do you think about my salary expectations?
Thanks.
I'd say it all depends in what level of recruitment you will be?

A headhunter for executive level will earn quite a bit more than the 100K, whereas a recruitment consultant at Kelly's, Manpower or any "commodity" recruitment firm will probably get no more than 50K.

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Careers & Jobs in Singapore”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests