Many businesses have suffered as a result of COVID-19. Businesses that require especially high contact with clients and customers in particular have been hit incredibly hard. As such, many are fearing for their jobs in such sectors while others might be worried they might not be able to find work during such a hostile climate.
If anything, COVID-19 has shown the world which are the skills that are highly desirable for a digital future. Despite and overall slowdown in hiring activities, businesses are now placing greater emphasis on skills such as digital marketing, e-commerce, healthcare, and other technical roles, according to RGF International Recruitment’s latest Salary Watch report on Singapore.
The desperate need for such skills is reflected by the salary that companies are willing to pay for such expertise. The survey found that smart manufacturing application engineers can earn up to US$60,000 annually, while business intelligence directors and cybersecurity directors can earn up to US$350,000 and US$420,000 annually, respectively.
The same can be said for the e-commerce industry as the need for digital retail becomes ever more apparent. High-skill roles such as digitisation managers as well as marketing and brand supervisors can see annual salaries that range between US$160,000 to US$250,000 each year.
According to James Miles, Managing Director at RGF Executive Search Singapore, the research regarding the salaries of the aforementioned talent were conducted ahead of the impact made by the pandemic. However, recent trends reveal that these in-demand roles continue to remain important to companies, thus maintaining the high salaries despite the afflicted economy.
“The closure of non-essential services has caused a dip in Singapore’s economic forecast, which in turn has also translated into a slowdown in the hiring landscape—at least for the time being. In the meantime, industries such as healthcare and technology continue to experience ramped up hiring, as the demand for these services increases in order to help businesses and the community cope with the impact of the pandemic,” said Miles.
