SALARY SURVEY 2013 - Robert Walters Singapore

In the US, Robert Walters hasoffices in New York City and SanFrancisco. While the New Yorkoffice concentrates mostly onbanking and financial services(among other disciplines),San Francisco works almostexclusively within the technologyindustry.New YorkThroughout 2012, trends in thejobs market followed broadlysimilar patterns to 2011. Althoughthe unemployment rate improvedslightly, we did not see a notableincrease in hiring initiativesor job levels in any disciplines.Firms were very selective, butwilling to hire quality candidateswho launched aggressive jobsearches and could prove valuewith cost-cutting or operationalimprovement ideas.Compensation levels remainedconsistent with 2011 asbusinesses were still gainingconfidence as the US transitionsthrough a time of economicuncertainty. Some companiesshowed initial interest in hiringonly to change their mindsand stall later in the process.While the US did see an overallincrease in the total numberof roles released over 2011, joblevels in 2012 were not as highas many economists and hiringmanagers predicted. This ispartly due to the fact that manycompanies who lost employeesin 2012 sought to replace onlyaround half of the staff that left.San FranciscoIn contrast to the broader USeconomy, the San Francisco BayArea (a global technology hub)recovered strongly from therecession. This trend continuedin 2012 when job levels within thetech space increased significantly.As a result, competition fortalent was at its fiercest sincethe dot-com bubble of the early2000s, with employers goingto great lengths to attract andretain top employees. Significantsalary increases, large sign-onbonuses, sizeable equity stakesand various other perks, suchas free meals and shuttle services,were the norm in 2012. Largecompanies and start-ups withventure capital funding wereparticularly aggressive in theirpursuit of high-calibre candidates.In particular, product managementprofessionals with advancedcomputer science and mathdegrees were in high demandwithin the mobile app space. Inthe cloud/SaaS space, marketingprofessionals with useracquisition experience andtop sales performers were highlysought-after.In 2013, we expect job levels toremain high and competition forthe best candidates to becomeeven more intense. As a result,compensation levels (includingbonuses, equity stakes andadditional perks) are likely to risein the San Francisco Bay Area.usaIn 2013, macro events will continueto shape the labour market.The extent of the economic impactis still unknown due to lingeringeconomic issues. We expect to seeslow and steady growth in hiringas these large scale problemsare progressively addressed.Robert Walters Global Salary Survey 2013 2012