2023 Salary List For Singapore’s Highest-Paying Roles

Money makes the world go round. Though a high-paying job isn’t everything, it definitely paves the way for a more comfortable life. If you’re considering options for your career path or even a mid-career change, could any of these top high-paying jobs in Singapore be the right fit for you?

Let’s face it, no matter how passionate you are about a particular job, salary always matters. While some are privileged enough to pursue their passion while drawing a decent monthly salary, you might meet others who have given up their passions for money and vice versa.

Who’s to say what’s right? In an ideal world, everyone will be working their dream jobs while being able to sustain their lifestyle. But the harsh reality is that some jobs just don’t pay as much as others. Whether it’s due to the high barriers to entry, specialised skills or the demanding nature of certain roles, the salary range across industries greatly varies.

If you’re reading this article now, and it’s making you feel worse about your pay, remember that each industry has its own salary benchmarks. There are other factors that play a part in your career satisfaction, such as gaining new skills, work-life balance, or a supportive family-friendly company culture. 

According to Morgan McKinley's 2023 Salary Guide, here's a list of the highest-paying jobs in Singapore for employees with 5 to 10 years of experience. This year,  this survey compiled 3,860 professional and 636 employer/hiring manager respondents. 

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Which sectors make up Singapore’s economy? 

According to a SkillsFuture report adapted from TODAY, there seems to be a surge in the number of job opportunities for roles in the digital, green and care economies. They highlight that they will continue to be in demand over the next three years, as well as the skillsets needed for such roles.

On top of that, in the Ministry of Manpower's Q2 2023 Labour Market Advance Release Report, the largest growth in employment were in the Community, Social & Personal Services (Public Administration & Education) and Financial Services. On the contrary, outward-oriented or trade-related sectors like Wholesale Trade, Information & Communications, and Manufacturing either saw declined employments or muted growth. 

Though such results aren’t indicative of future performance, we can expect to see most of these industries boom and Singapore. 

Highest-paying jobs in Singapore 2023

1. Highest-paying jobs in accounting & finance

Individuals working in this industry will fetch a fat paycheck, but it also depends on number of years they have under their belt, employer, and education level.

2. Highest-paying jobs in banking & financial services

Encompassing banking, mortgages, credit cards, payment services, tax services, investing, and money management, the banking and financial services industry is one of Singapore's biggest sectors, so it's unsurprising that many professionals in the industry attract a high wage. 

3. Highest-paying jobs in HR

HR might come as a surprise, but it's an industry of paramount importance given that companies strive for employee retention while employees expect a company to have a supportive organisational culture. 

4. Highest-paying jobs in risk and compliance 

Risk management is about understanding and identifying the various risks a company faces when undertaking a business or project, setting up processes and frameworks for occurrences that might result in operational losses, and predicting future events that might jeopardise the organisation.

Meanwhile, those working in compliance help to identify how effectively companies function while adhering to regulatory and process obligations, code of conduct, and tax requirements.

As these roles play an integral part in protecting a business's interests while ensuring that it operates efficiently, they require good analytical, problem-solving, organisation, teamwork, and communication skills.

5. Highest-paying jobs in projects & change (financial services)

Many large companies employ project managers to oversee their projects and ensure that they run efficiently to meet the company's goals.

Meanwhile, the primary responsibility of change managers is to help ensure that a company is well-prepared with strategies and plans to adapt to changes without losing momentum.

6. Highest-paying jobs in sales and marketing

Marketing and sales professionals are the main revenue-driving forces of a company.

Marketing professionals are responsible for executing marketing campaigns, creating marketing content, designing marketing campaigns, conducting market research, and more.

On the other hand, sales professionals are responsible for developing sales strategies to convert customers, maintaining relationships with customers, and developing pricing, promotional, and distribution strategies to drive sales.

7. Highest-paying jobs in supply chain & procurement

Procurement is the act of acquiring goods or services to support a business's operations. This is to ensure that the needed supplies are available when needed to help a business run smoothly. 

Supply chain management is more complex as it involves coordinating numerous activities and stakeholders to ensure that the goods and services reach customers. Those working in procurement and supply chain management are responsible for optimising supply chains to reduce costs, improve quality control measures, and improve business performance. 

8. Technology

Despite the layoffs by tech giants, global demand for tech talent is still highly sought-after, including in Singapore.

Moreover, with artificial intelligence (AI) all the rage right now, more companies are looking to hire people with experience in AI. There's also increased demand for tech roles in non-tech industries such as financial services, hospitality, logistics, and retail. 

The most in-demand tech roles include software developers and engineers, cloud engineers, database developers, DevOps engineers, data scientists, IT managers, information security analysts, front-end developers, systems security managers, and more.