HR professionals with more than 12 years’ experience can be earning up to S$400,000 per year in roles such as HR business partner and HR generalist, says the latest report by Robert Walters.
The
Robert Walters Global Salary Survey 2016 looked at the HR salary ranges for various experience brackets and found that salaries have remained at the same level from last year to this one.
The highest paying roles for permanent positions within commerce and industry are found below. All salaries listed are annual and in Singaporean dollars.
| Rank |
3-6 years’ experience |
6-12 years’ experience |
12+ years’ experience |
| 1. |
Compensation & benefits |
60 – 120k |
Organisational development |
100 – 250k |
HR business partner |
200 – 400k+ |
| 2. |
HR business partner |
70 – 110k |
Compensation & benefits |
120 – 220k |
HR generalist |
200 – 400k+ |
| 3. |
HR generalist |
60 – 110k |
HR business partner |
110 – 200k |
Compensation & benefits |
220 – 350k+ |
| 4. |
Organisational development |
70 – 100k |
HR generalist |
110 – 200k |
Organisational development |
250 – 320k+ |
| 5. |
Recruitment |
50 – 100k |
Training & development |
90 – 165k |
Training & development |
165 – 250k+ |
For the banking and finance sectors, the survey found that HR salaries were either the same or higher. The top five paying positions for each experience bracket are listed below with all annual salaries in Singaporean dollars.
| Rank |
3-6 years’ experience |
6-12 years’ experience |
12+ years’ experience |
| 1. |
Compensation & benefits |
60 – 125k |
Organisational development |
100 – 250k |
HR business partner |
200 – 400k+ |
| 2. |
HR generalist |
60 – 120k |
Compensation & benefits |
125 – 220k |
HR generalist |
200 – 400k+ |
| 3. |
HR business partner |
70 – 110k |
HR business partner |
120 – 200k |
Compensation & benefits |
220 – 350k+ |
| 4. |
Organisational development |
60 – 100k |
HR generalist |
120 – 200k |
Organisational development |
250 – 300k+ |
| 5. |
Recruitment |
60 – 100k |
Training & development |
100 – 180k |
Training & development |
180 – 250k+ |
Demand for permanent roles remained robust in 2015 with the report listing three key factors that influenced overall recruitment in the HR space during this period.
“The first saw a number of companies’ offshoring HR services to lower-cost locations outside of Singapore. Transactional HR processes were the focus of outsourcing, for example: payroll administration, benefits administration, training support and general administration.”
The trend is expected to continue in 2016, according to the authors of the survey.
Business leaders were also more demanding of the HR function and expected HR strategies that supported revenue growth.
“Candidates with the ability to translate HR strategies into measurable outcomes across a business will therefore be highly sought after in 2016,” the report said.
This means that change management, problem solving and stakeholder management were all critical skills required in senior HR positions in 2015.
“Despite the move to a business-partnering HR function, a number of restructures and reorganisations resulted in much leaner HR operations. As a result, candidates were still expected to be hands-on, regardless of their seniority in the organisation.”
Finally, the survey found that a greater number of Southeast Asian regional HR roles emerged in Singapore in the past year.
“The complexities faced by organisations as they invested in the Asia Pacific region meant a higher level of dedicated support was required, especially from candidates with a strong understanding of local labour laws in each market,” the authors wrote.
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