Decades of economic sustainability and lucrative investment climates make Singapore an example of excellence in Southeast Asia. Contributing to this progress, the ICT sector has been a key enabler for other sectors which now realize the need for professionals like web developers.
Does it mean now is the right time to choose this line of work for a living? Well, you shouldn’t jump into a conclusion without thinking this through. This article highlights the underlying factors, so you can decide wisely.
Skills and Requirements
While educational qualifications are mandatory for other jobs, web developers can do just fine without a degree as long as they know how to build websites and web applications.
However, many employers look for candidates with a background in computer science because it is supposed to let them start on a higher ground. Here is a list of essential programming languages and frameworks.
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Basic: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
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Front-End: jQuery, Bootstrap/Foundation
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Back-End: PHP, Python, Java, Ruby
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CMS: WordPress, Joomla
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Ecommerce Platforms: Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce
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Full Stacks: LAMP (JavaScript, Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP), Django (JavaScript, Python, Django, and MySQL), MEAN (JavaScript, MongoDB, Express, AngularJS, and Node.js), and Ruby on Rails (JavaScript, Ruby, SQLite, and Rails)
Let’s get more specific about the learning stage. According to statistics, the most commonly used programming languages in Singapore is PHP with ASP.NET and Ruby on Rails following. For CMS, WordPress is the most popular choice, but there are other platforms such as Joomla and Drupal. Shopify stands as the top ecommerce platforms whereas Magento and BigCommerce have a small market share.
For someone who has been in the industry for a while now, a few more ideas can be useful, especially when career progression is the focus. Over the past 5-6 years, the following trends are getting attention from both businesses and professionals of the city-state.
- Artificial Intelligence or AI for customer communication, marketing, and SEO
- Single Page Websites
- Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP
- Websites Specific to Industries (instead of common types for all sectors)
So, investing time in catching up with one or more of these trends may help an aspiring web developer broaden the scope of employment.
Employment Sectors
The manufacturing industry is the largest sector of employment, and it contributes at least 20% of Singapore’s GDP. Included in this particular field are clusters like biomedical services, chemicals, electronics, logistics, supply chain, and transport engineering.
In practice, all of these avenues benefit from web design and development in many ways because maintaining strong web presence is one of the indicators of accountability and trustworthiness in this era. Apart from this, financial services, ICT, and the creative industry are the top fields of employment for web developers who are interested in a sustainable career path.
Salary, Compensation, and Benefits
This particular job may not pay as much as some in the financial sector, but the ever-growing trend that it maintains is hard to ignore, especially if you see how fast the target market for web developers is expanding.
The average monthly salary is S$3,400. Additional cash incentives or compensations may also be awarded too. Benefits include leaves, performance bonuses, medical benefits, and dental treatment, insurance, etc.
Large corporations or enterprises like Shopee pay S$6,000 to S$8,000 per month plus the above benefits. Some companies also allow interns to work and earn around S$1,000 per month. (Source: Indeed Singapore, Glassdoor, and Payscale)
So far, you’ve learned about things for someone who is part of the in-house staff. The path for an independent or a freelance web developer is significantly different in terms of the financial figures and other benefits. Let’s know how.
Freelance Opportunities
When you’re thinking about being a freelance web developer, you virtually have no boundaries to consider. It means you can take on jobs from both a company and an individual. But landing these jobs is not very easy if you don’t have a lot of connections or referrals in different industries.
For creating web development opportunities, small business owners are on top of others. You can connect with these people and help them.
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Doctor and Dentists
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Book Authors
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Visual Artists
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Real Estate Agents
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Accountants and Counselor
Freelance professionals can charge by the hours or agree on a fixed price. Average hourly pay for a junior developer is S$20, and a full-stack developer may receive S$40 per hour.
So, that is the long and short of a career in web development in Singapore. Hopefully, you’ve gathered genuine insights into the job. Write to us if you have a question!
