Majority of tech jobs in Singapore saw wages fall in 2023: report

Data scientist salaries bucked the trend thanks to AI.

After rising substantially in recent years, tech salaries in Singapore mostly declined in 2023 as funding for the industry dries up across the region, according to NodeFlair. 

Its Asia Tech Salary Report showed game and solutions engineer roles took the highest pay cut with the average compensation for these positions declining by 6.66% and 5.7%, respectively, last year.

These are followed by the 5.4% salary cut for blockchain engineers and the nearly 2% dip for DevOps, while salaries of data engineers (-1.2%), data analysts (-1.1%), and software engineers (1%) only declined marginally.

“While recent years saw substantial growth, tech salaries have declined overall due to Southeast Asia's tech funding hitting a five-year low in 2023,” NodeFlair said. “Nevertheless, salaries still surpass those from two years prior, signalling a shift towards a more equitable compensation framework.”

Some positions still enjoyed salary increases despite the challenges faced by the industry.

The same report showed the average compensation for data scientists surged 11.3% in 2023, while salaries in cybersecurity engineer, systems analyst, and quality assurance roles increased by over 8%.

The rising adoption of generative AI globally helped boost the salaries of data scientists according to NodeFlair.

“In 2024, the tech industry grapples with talent challenges amidst the rise of Generative AI and financial prudence,” said Ethan Ang, CEO of NodeFlair.