share on
Jobs requiring advanced digital capabilities offered 30.1% higher advertised pay than similar roles requiring lower digital proficiency, while AI skill demand more than doubled from 2019 to 2024.
Digital skills are increasingly linked to higher wages in Singapore, with jobs requiring advanced digital capabilities commanding a 30.1% wage premium, according to new research from Indeed Hiring Lab, published in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The findings are based on an analysis of around 6mn job postings across Australia, India, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore between 2019 and 2024. For Singapore, the study compared jobs within the same job title and firm while accounting for other job requirements, helping to isolate the wage difference associated with digital skills.
The research found a clear digital wage gradient in Singapore, with the premium increasing as the level of digital proficiency rises.
Advanced digital skills linked to highest wage premium
Jobs requiring advanced digital skills carried a 30.1% wage premium, while those requiring intermediate digital skills had a 12.1% premium.
Even jobs requiring basic digital skills were associated with a 4.6% wage premium.
The wage premium has therefore been found to rise sharply with digital complexity. Advanced digital skills commanded a premium more than six times that associated with basic digital skills in Singapore.
As defined in the study, basic skills include using email, office software and spreadsheets, which are now common across many occupations; while intermediate skills cover capabilities such as data analysis, CRM software, dashboards and digital content management.
Advanced skills include programming, AI, machine learning, and IT systems management.
Silvia Garcia Mandico, Economist, Asian Development Bank and co-author of the study, said the findings show that digital skills are becoming increasingly important across the labour market, rather than being limited to technology-intensive occupations.
She added that the rising wage premium highlights the importance of expanding opportunities for workers to acquire and continuously upgrade their digital skills as technology changes.
Digital skills increasingly required beyond tech roles
The demand for digital capabilities is not limited to technology occupations. Basic digital skills are already widespread across roles including administrative assistance, customer service, sales, logistics support, education and healthcare.
Meanwhile, software development, IT infrastructure, data and analytics, and industrial engineering have some of the highest concentrations of intermediate and advanced digital requirements.
The findings suggest digital capability is becoming increasingly embedded across occupations rather than remaining concentrated in a narrow group of technology jobs.
AI skills demand more than doubles
AI is also becoming a growing part of employers' digital skills requirements.
Singapore was among the economies in the study with the highest levels of AI-related skill demand. Between 2019 and 2024, demand for AI use skills among jobs requiring intermediate or advanced digital capabilities more than doubled.
AI-related requirements are increasingly appearing outside traditional technology roles, including banking and finance, insurance, legal services, mechanical and industrial engineering, social sciences, and arts and entertainment.
While AI development remains concentrated in more technical occupations, AI use is spreading more broadly as employers look for workers who can apply existing AI tools and models to their jobs.
Key findings from Singapore
- Jobs requiring advanced digital skills command a 30.1% wage premium in Singapore, compared with 12.1% for intermediate skills and 4.6% for basic skills.
- Singapore ranks among the economies in the study with the highest levels of AI-related skill demand.
- Demand for AI use skills more than doubled between 2019 and 2024 among jobs requiring intermediate or advanced digital capabilities.
- AI-related skills are increasingly being required outside technology roles, including in finance, insurance, legal services, engineering, social sciences, and arts and entertainment.
As digital and AI tools become more widely used across different occupations, the ability to work effectively with these technologies is likely to remain an increasingly important part of the skills employers value.
ALSO READ: Singapore announces further updates to COMPASS C1 salary benchmarks for Employment Pass applications
share on
