Chinese tech giants on talent poaching spree in Singapore

THE hunt for tech talent in Singapore has Chinese tech companies flashing serious cash in order to bulk up their presence here in South-east Asia, with even interns benefiting from their efforts.

Fighting in a limited talent pool, the usual big-name companies are seeing their talent poached by Chinese tech companies that make better offers, sparking a cycle of poaching from others to replace lost talent. This has resulted in higher salaries and perks to attract and retain talent.

For instance, salaries at ByteDance can range from S$6,000 to S$7,000 on average for fresh graduates in junior tech roles, according to tech career site NodeFlair. Salaries for junior tech roles across the board were ranging between as low as S$3,000 and S$7,250 for Q3 2021.