SINGAPORE: Oil and bunker traders were among those handsomely rewarded in 2023, a bumper year for Singapore’s ports.

They earned a median gross wage of S$14,911 per month as of June 2023, coming in tops among the jobs covered by the latest annual occupational wage data released by the Manpower Ministry (MoM).

Bunker sales in Singapore had weighed in at a record 51.8 million tonnes in 2023, rewriting the 50.6 million tonne mark notched in 2017.

Marine superintendents also ranked high in median gross wage, coming in 19th out of around 500 common occupations across all industries.

Jobs pertaining to technology, finance and media were also well represented among the top 20 roles ranked by median gross wage.

The Straits Times on July 30 released the 2024 Singapore Salary Guide, which draws from MoM’s annual Occupational Wage Survey, among other sources.

Almost 4,800 private-sector employers were polled from July to December in 2023 for the MoM survey, with the results released in June 2024.

These employers collectively employed some 288,700 full-time Singaporean and permanent resident employees who had Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions in June 2023.

Chief information officers, chief technology officers and chief security officers came in second with a median gross wage of S$13,840.

The wage figures include employee CPF contributions but exclude employer CPF contributions.

Other tech roles in the top 20 include enterprise or solution architects, digital forensics specialists, and infocomm technology sales and services professionals.

The highest-paying finance-related job was that of business valuer, which drew a median gross wage of S$13,649, coming in fourth place.

Insurance services managers, risk management managers, financial or investment advisers, financial risk managers and financial services managers followed closely behind with median gross wages of more than S$10,000.

Editors of news and periodicals pulled in median gross wages of S$10,577, while directors of stage, film, television, games, commercial, video and radio earned median gross wages of S$11,252.

Meanwhile, top wage gainers spanned an eclectic range of roles.

Roles relating to healthcare, wellness, beauty and environmental services featured alongside those in finance, marketing and social services.

The median gross wages recorded for hairdressers increased from S$1,595 per month in June 2022 to S$2,770 per month in June 2023, which is up by more than 73%.

Median gross wages for wellness centre managers followed behind, with a jump of over 60% between both surveys to S$5,628 in June 2023.

The median gross wage commanded by certain types of specialist medical practitioners, as well as clinical research professionals, also made large gains.

Rounding off the list of top 10 gainers were telemarketers and family counsellors, with increases of over 30% between the 2022 and 2023 surveys.

However, Associate Professor Terence Ho of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy said that year-to-year comparisons of wages for particular occupations may not be a very good reflection of underlying trends because of sample size limitations and sampling variability in the survey.

Overall, the median gross monthly income of full-time employed residents rose 2.5% year-on-year in 2023, according to MoM data released in January.

Salary data for common occupations in all industries was also classified by gender in the survey results.

Jobs with the largest pay gaps include various healthcare and manufacturing roles, according to calculations by The Straits Times.

The widest gap was observed among plant and machine operators involved in chemical processing and products.

Men working those jobs were recorded drawing a median gross wage of S$8,908, almost quadruple that of women reported in the same role.

Prof Ho said occupations that have seen strong wage gains could reflect robust demand relative to supply of workers.

 - ANN