Study says ASEAN startups pay more for sales positions

An annual report released on Thursday shows that new hires in sales and business development at Southeast Asian startups are now earning salaries that can increase by up to 20%.

This is a reflection of the growing pressure on startups to turn a profit in an increasingly competitive funding landscape. 

Staffing platform Glints, based in Singapore, and venture capital firm Monk's Hill Ventures report that average salaries for business development and sales climbed by 2% in 2023 compared to four other critical roles: engineering, marketing, data, and product development. 

The yearly report examined over 10,000 data points from interviews with over 70 early-stage startups in the region as well as job postings from Glints for startup positions in Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam. 

The analysis found that continued tech layoffs and cost-cutting initiatives had the greatest effect on engineering roles, which witnessed the largest salary reduction. Because of these circumstances, there was a greater quantity of tech talent accessible, which caused salaries to decline. Engineer salaries decreased by 2% in the previous year, with junior positions experiencing the biggest drop at 6%.

As a result, businesses found it more difficult to attract money and were obliged to reduce expenses. Large tech companies were also impacted; for instance, due to increasing competition, e-commerce giant Lazada reportedly laid off up to 30% of its Southeast Asian workforce last month. 

According to Glints, Singapore is doing better than Indonesia and Vietnam in the Southeast Asian market, where salaries are still rising, albeit more slowly than in prior years. While startup salaries in Vietnam and Indonesia declined by 3% last year, those in the city-state increased by 5% for both tech and nontech professions. 

In all, almost 40% of the startups reported reducing their employment budget in the previous year, while 22% indicated there had been no change. Of those whose budgets were less, 43% said that the reduction was due to a lack of capital or funds.