 Senior managers in Singapore earn less
Senior managers in Singapore earn less, enjoy higher standard of living: survey
By Jeana Wong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 09 October 2006 2200 hrs
Singapore managers earn lower gross salaries compared to most of their Asian and European counterparts, but they can afford a higher standard of living.
This is according to the latest national salary comparison survey done by ECA International, an human resources company.
And ECA says while senior managers in Singapore earn about the same wages as those in Hong Kong, junior level managers have some way to go.
Managers in Singapore are getting more bang for their buck even though they earn less than some of their global counterparts because of the relatively lower cost of living and taxes in Singapore in general.
But observers say junior managers in Singapore seem to trail their counterparts elsewhere.
After adjusting for the cost of living and local taxes including goods and services, personal taxes and social security benefits, junior managers here earn about S$48,000 a year on average, or a significant 43 percent less than those in Hong Kong.
ECA adds that at this level, Singapore ranks 20th while Hong Kong stayed within the top three for junior managers.
Ian Ridgwell, Managing Director, ECA International, said: "Singapore's a very attractive place to come and work. There's an availability of people at junior management level, which allows companies to keep the salaries down. If you work here, you can take your pool of labour from a far greater region."
However, it's a different picture for senior managers in Singapore.
And we're talking about people like the heads of finance and general or regional managers.
Now these bosses not only make about five times more than junior-level managers, they also earn salaries more comparable to their Hong Kong counterparts once you factor in income taxes and the cost of living.
Senior managers in the Republic make some S$160,000 a year on average, or only about 6 percent less than those in Hong Kong.
Ian Ridgwell says: "If we look at just gross salaries out of a survey of 29 countries, Singapore comes in at 18th in the list. However, being a fairly low tax country, this moves up the ranking quite quickly once you apply tax. Equally, because it has relatively lower cost of living, in the end, we find Singapore in the 4th place in the ranking."
Singapore is ranked 4th in terms of adjusted salary levels - behind the United States, Hong Kong and Mexico in the global survey, which was conducted between May and August this year.
This is an improvement from five years ago, when the city-state ranked 10th. - CNA/ch  To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. | 
