2018's top paying jobs could come from these 5 industries

Hot jobs include technical support engineer which has a salary range of $3,600-$5,000 a month.

Recruitment firm Kelly Services forecasts that in 2018, the top-paying jobs will come from Electronics and Precision Engineering, Finance and Insurance, Transportation, Storage & Wholesale Trade, and Retail & Food Services.

According to its 2018 Singapore Salary Guide, the unemployment rate will continue its decline down to 2.1% as the digital economy shift will continue to drive growth, with the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) opening new wage and employment opportunities for workers.

The electronics and precision engineering clusters are expecting improved growth as they drove manufacturing up by 10% in 2017. “Sectors requiring engineering and technical personnel include electronics, chemicals, biomedical sciences, info-communications and media, logistics, and transport engineering, with new areas of growth such as clean energy, environment, water and natural resources,” Kelly Services said.

Hot jobs include technical support engineer which has a salary range of $3,600-$5,000 a month, product specialist ($4,000-$6,000), mechanical or electrical engineer ($2,300-$5,500), senior process engineer ($4,500-$6,500). Lead design engineers can earn up to $7,700 a month.

The finance and insurance sectors are also expecting to attract more staff. “We expect an increased demand for tech talent as companies in this sector embrace pervasive innovation and increasingly adopt technologies such as distributed ledgers,” the firm added.

Hot jobs include compliance officer with a monthly salary range of $4,500-$8,000, insurance underwriter ($5,000-$7,000), tax manager ($7,000-$9,000), risk credit analyst ($2,400-$4,500), and trade finance manager ($5,000-$12,000). Operations regional director can earn as much as $14,000-$19,000 a month.

Kelly services expects that workers in the accounting sector are amongst the best paid professionals, with Chief Financial Officers the top-paying job ($20,000-$25,000). Other hot jobs include finance controller ($8,500-$15,000) and senior accountant ($5,000-$7,000).

Meanwhile, the IT sector’s value-add is expected to grow 6% a year, twice the speed of the overall economy. The sector will add another 16,000 jobs by 2020, of which 13,000 are expected to be PMETs.

Hot IT jobs include data analyst ($4,800-$6,300), application architect ($8,000-$11,000), and mobile application developer ($3,300-$4,700).

Singapore’s logistics sector also expects new hires as both air and sea ports are being expanded whilst the Tuas port is slated for opening from 2021. “The industry is expected to add 2,000 new PMETs jobs by 2020, according to the Logistics ITM launched in 2016,” Kelly Services noted.

Hot jobs in the logistics sector include senior logistics executive which could pay $2,500-$5,200 a month, warehouse supervisor ($3,500-$4,800), shipping operations manager ($4,500-$6,000), senior operations executive ($4,300-$4,700), senior buyer ($3,000-$5,500), procurement manager ($5,200-$5,300), and quality inspector ($1,700-$3,500).

Supply chain managers can earn as much as $4,200-$8,000 a month.

The guide also said that job vacancies will continue to be open to job seekers of all educational levels this year. “Degree holders will have access to the most jobs, at 30% of vacancies. Jobseekers with secondary, lower secondary, and post-secondary education will have opportunities comprising 29% of openings. Positions requiring diploma or professional qualifications will be the least available, at 16%,” the firm said.

In-demand job roles will include software, web, and multimedia developers, teaching and training professionals, and commercial and marketing sales executive.