For an industry that is at the heart of the financial maelstrom, finance and accounting professionals' salaries will not encounter much turbulence this year.
Salary levels for the industry will remain steady over 2009 and 2010, with some positions even experiencing a slight increase, according to Robert Half's Global Financial Salary Guide for 2009/2010 that was launched yesterday in partnership with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS).
Even amidst the general stagnancy of salaries in Singapore, some choice positions are seeing increases in their average salary ranges.
The position of chief accountant with three to five years of relevant experience at small or medium-sized firms, for example, has experienced a leap of up to 10 per cent in salary, from the $60,000-$70,000 range in last year's salary guide to $67,000-$72,000 this year.
'Some of the more opportunistic companies like SMEs are using this time to acquire quality talent previously inaccessible to them,' said Tim Hird, managing director of Robert Half Singapore.
Even lower on the foodchain, assistant accountants with less than two years of experience are getting $25,000-$30,000 a year, a range that only someone with more than three years of experience could have commanded a year ago.
'Within CPA firms, many of them have maintained their starting salaries. During the boom-times, they had struggled to get good graduates. Now, this is the time for them to maintain or even increase starting pay a little to compete for talent,' said Ernest Kan, president of ICPAS.
Interestingly enough, it is the current situation of financial turmoil that might be driving higher salaries for these positions, as companies seek expertise from accountants skilled in audit and compliance practices.
'The accountant is becoming very much a strategic advisor to businesses now,' said Mr Hird.
Such figures emerge against a bleak backdrop of general employment numbers, where 12,760 workers were laid off in the first quarter of this year, a 36 per cent increase from Q4 2008, according to the latest labour report from the Ministry of Manpower.
Earnings also took a beating in Q1 2009, falling 3.7 per cent year-on-year in nominal terms.
The survey was carried out in 21 countries for 16 key accounting and finance positions, with about 200 people polled in Singapore.
