Summary
- Salary Increases with Career Progression: compensation grows steadily as designers gain seniority and experience over their careers. Management roles have the highest pay.
- International stints translate to significantly larger salaries - medians are 85% higher versus local careers.
- Steady Annual Salary Growth: on average, pay increases $10,839 per year of additional experience gained in a design career.
- Negotiation Matters for Mid-Late Careers, especially for leads/managers and those with 7+ years' experience.
The following data are based on Singapore respondents and the Singapore dollar.
Level of seniority
The pay goes up as the level goes up.
As the level of seniority and average years of design experience increases, the median reported salaries also tend to grow.
This suggests a positive correlation between experience, seniority and designer compensation levels.
Management track pays more overall, with more experienced designers filling in on the role.
Years of design experience
More experience equates to more pay.
Maximum salaries do not necessarily correlate with YOE, as the 0-3 group reported the highest individual maximum.
Based on the available data, this is an estimated baseline for salary progression over a design career. The average annual salary increase designers can expect as they gain more years of experience is $10,839 annually.
Overseas experience
Having overseas experience actually pays.
Designers with overseas experience earn 85.5% higher medians and have a minimum salary of 190% greater than those without.
Those with overseas stints have more average years of design experience - 7.1 years compared to 4.4 years for locals.
Negotiations
Early career saw less impact of negotiation. More benefits at a later stage.
Median salaries are similar whether negotiation occurred or not. However, the maximum wages achieved are highest for those who negotiated.
Negotiation didn’t guarantee more pay for all levels, like Junior ICs to Senior ICs. However, for leads and managers, there’s a 10%-16% increase for those who negotiated.
The impact (11% - 22% more) seems more pronounced for those with 7 or more years of design experience.
Negotiating is still recommended since it correlates with achieving higher maximum salaries, especially with more experience.
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