Southeast Asian startups’ salaries for new hires in business development and sales have risen by as much as 20%, according to an annual report published Thursday, reflecting young companies’ urgent need to generate cash amid a tougher funding environment.
Average salaries for business development and sales increased more than those for four other key roles — engineering, marketing, data and product development — in 2023, up by an average of 2% from a year earlier, according to the Singapore-based staffing platform Glints and the venture capital firm Monk’s Hill Ventures.
The annual report analyzed more than 10,000 data points from Glints’ job postings for startup roles in Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, as well as interviews with over 70 early-stage startups in the region.
According to the study, engineering roles saw the biggest decline in salaries, impacted by ongoing tech layoffs and cost-cutting measures. These factors led to an increased supply of available tech talent, putting downward pressure on salaries. Salaries for engineers fell 2% last year, with junior roles seeing the sharpest decline of 6%.
“The past year’s challenges in a tightened market have highlighted a greater need for adaptability and resilience,” Glints CEO Oswald Yeo said in a statement.
Startup funding in Southeast Asia more than halved to $7.96 billion in 2023 from the year before, with deals also down 30% to 718, according to DealStreetAsia, as more investors favored profitable companies amid higher interest rates.
In turn, startups were forced to conserve cash and cut costs as it became harder to raise capital. Even large tech companies were affected — for example, the e-commerce operator Lazada last month reportedly cut up to 30% of its Southeast Asian employees amid growing competition.
Within Southeast Asia, the Singapore market is faring better than Indonesia and Vietnam, Glints said, with salaries still growing, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. The city-state’s startup salaries for both tech and nontech roles were up 5%, while Indonesia and Vietnam both fell 3% last year.
Overall, more than 40% of the startups said they had cut their budget for hiring over the past year, while 22% said it hadn’t changed. Among those with lower budgets, 43% attributed the cut to less access to funding or capital.
The impact of layoffs and cost-cutting efforts has been most acute on the engineering function, with the biggest declines observed in Indonesia and Vietnam, down 7% and 4%, respectively.
Despite the slowdown among technical roles, the position of vice president for engineering was the highest-paid, with a median annual salary of $193,200. This was followed by the positions of vice president for product development and data, which respectively were $170,400 and $158,400.
“In today’s market, simply hiring people to help you scale is no longer an option,” Cheryl Liew, the head of talent at Monk’s Hill Ventures, said in the report. “Startups must demonstrate product market fit and a clear path to profitability, emphasizing efficiency and productivity.” – NIKKEIAsia
