Salary Pulse: Singapore 2026
Salary Pulse: Singapore 2026
Singapore’s state of pay in 2026: Satisfaction, fairness and how to talk about pay rises.
Pay is a foundational factor shaping how Singaporeans feel about work, yet it’s one of the most challenging topics to talk about openly. Salary Pulse: Singapore 2026 report uncovers the gap between feeling fairly paid and feeling truly satisfied, and what employers and employees can do about it.
This research was conducted by market research agency Nature on behalf of SEEK via an online survey in February 2026. Responses were gathered from 1,008 workers in Singapore aged 18 to 64 who are currently employed, recruited on a nationally representative basis on age and gender.
Most employees in Singapore feel fairly paid but not necessarily satisfied
Most employees in Singapore feel they're being paid fairly for the current job they're in. But, only 37% report being happy with their salary, suggesting a sizable gap between feeling that pay is acceptable on paper and feeling genuinely happy with it in practice.
Compared with the rest of APAC, Singapore sits in the lower tier for salary satisfaction, which suggests that workers today are evaluating their salary through a broader lens than compensation alone.
Salary happiness boosts motivation and affects retention
Satisfied employees are 3.7x more likely to feel motivated to go above and beyond, while those who aren’t are 1.7x more likely to think about changing jobs. Salary satisfaction influences not just how engaged employees feel, but also whether they see a future with their current employer.
Younger workers are more willing to act to improve their salary
(% that would do nothing and accept a payrise that doesn't meet expectations)
Gen-Z
Millennials
Gen X
Baby boomers