Accountants among highest paid workers in 2017

For anyone who's thinking of a career switch, perhaps it could be a wise idea to try out accountancy.

According to the 2017 Kelly Services and Capita Salary Guide, accounting is among this year's highest paying industries.

Based on the report released on Thursday (May 4), the profession is also set to see rapid growth, with an expected 15 per cent increase of accountancy professionals to 21,000 by 2020.

This is also due to the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community last year. The increase in demand for jobs in the accounting sector are mostly in entry to middle level roles.

Senior accountants and finance controllers in the accounting industry can expect to command salaries ranging from $5,000 to $7,500 and $8,000 to $16,000 respectively, said Kelly Services.

Besides accounting, the other top paying industries include banking & finance, healthcare & life sciences, IT, and the legal sector.

Those in the legal industry are the highest paid amongst all. For instance, a general counsel and legal counsel working in the industry can expect to be paid anything from $15,000 to $20,000 and $10,000 to $16,000 respectively.

There's good news for banking and finance professionals, as they may see a three per cent growth in salary despite the tepid economic climate. Senior/associates in financial controls can expect salaries ranging between $4,400 and $6,000, while vice presidents working in the risk sector can expect salaries from $10,000 to $17,000.

The annual guide, which compiles salary figures across 12 major sectors in Singapore's job market landscape, also showed that Singapore's workers are seeking ways "to be as resilient as possible" despite the uncertain labour market.

More than 8 in 10 workers (83 per cent) surveyed by Kelly Services indicated a desire to grow their skill set.

Said Managing Director and Country Head for Kelly Services Singapore Mr Foo See Yang: "Singapore has a highly skilled workforce where its workers are well aware of their market power. If they are dissatisfied with an organisation, they will actively look to find something better. This is especially so for high performers and those with high demand skills such as data analytics or risk management."

In fact, the concern of outdated skills is evident throughout all segments of the workforce based on statistics gathered in the report.

Among professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), the overall statistic stands at approximately 1 in 2 (58 per cent), with the highest being across workers in Information Technology (IT) (64 per cent).

The concern is also higher among Gen Y workers (74 per cent) as compared to Gen X workers (63 per cent) where almost 4 in 10 workers (37 per cent) cited being more concerned about layoffs.

ssandrea@sph.com.sg