AI is displacing software engineers, but those in Singapore have the chance to fare better

SINGAPORE – Software engineers in Singapore are less likely than their global peers to lose their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), owing to strong government support and the Republic’s proximity to an array of tech firms, say talent and technology players.

The rise of

vibe coding

– where one can build apps and websites using word commands – is especially ominous for this group of computer experts.

Mr Eugene Yang, managing director for Singapore and Hong Kong at technology consultancy Palo IT, said the signs are that companies here are already reducing demand for junior developers, traditionally hired through offshore markets such as India, Vietnam, the Philippines and China.

But Singapore’s smaller, more specialised tech workforce offers an opportunity.

He said: “We could emerge as the AI orchestration hub for South-east Asia, managing AI agents rather than human coders.”

Managing AI agents – bots that can work and learn independently without human supervision – to collaborate to accomplish complex tasks is beginning to draw attention among enterprises.

Ms Rohini Saluja, managing director at real estate services firm CBRE, said the AI orchestration layer is where human oversight, ethical design and complex system integration are needed.

These areas play up Singapore’s strengths – but offshore information technology (IT) offices will not disappear, she said.

She noted: “Take an example of data labelling for AI training. Despite improvements in optical character recognition technology, companies continue to value quality, accuracy and the human lens for such data.

“Such roles will not be feasible in higher-cost markets.”

Likewise, Mr Ravi Nippani, head of regional industries and solutions at professional services firm Mercer Asia, expects businesses here to keep using offshore teams.

These remote teams offer specialised skills and scale for large IT projects, as well as personalised customer interactions. They also help businesses spread their geographical operation risks.

“Companies should not rush to cut offshore IT offices but rather consider transforming their offshore teams,” Mr Nippani advised. For instance, offshore offices could be upgraded from routine coding to higher-value tasks such as AI management, complex problem-solving and system design, he said.

Singapore is home to around 4,500 tech firms, including the regional operations of major global tech companies such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services.

Director for AI innovation at AI Singapore Laurence Liew expects firms to bring some of their overseas roles home when Singapore is able to offer enough AI workers at competitive wage levels.

The Government has

a goal to have 15,000 AI professionals in the workforce before 2029

, and is supporting it with apprenticeships, scholarships, reskilling initiatives and public-private collaborations.

It has launched programmes such as the

Skills Pathway for Cloud,

offered by the Singapore Computer Society in collaboration with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and SkillsFuture Singapore; IMDA’s

Tech Immersion and Placement Programme;

and

AI Singapore’s AI Apprenticeship Programme

.

Mr Liew said software engineers everywhere are using AI or agentic coding tools today.

AI Singapore’s apprenticeship initiative aims to give the local workforce an edge by injecting AI workers with diverse backgrounds into the economy.

He said: “Not all are software or computer science graduates, which makes the programme all the more valuable, as they bring their past domain experience to solve business problems.”

Almost all its trainees, ranging from fresh graduates to mid-career job switchers, are hired within six months of graduation. About six in 10 find jobs before graduation, he added.

The programme will produce more than 500 graduates over 20 cohorts by the middle of 2026.

While engineers here are already expected to be more productive with the help of AI coding tools, higher salaries are not in the offing for now, said Mr Ethan Ang, chief executive of tech career platform NodeFlair.

“The market remains employer-driven, especially after the wave of tech layoffs, and companies generally view AI adoption as a way to improve competitiveness and efficiency, rather than as a justification for higher salary negotiations,” he said.

NodeFlair estimates that 80,000 to 100,000 of the 214,000 tech workers in Singapore are software engineers and developers making a median monthly salary of $6,750.

Regional director John Borneman of recruitment firm Hays expects median salaries for this group to stay flat in the next 12 months.

But he expects the ones who have upskilled to command more pay.

“The rise of low-code platforms is reducing the need for teams writing boilerplate code, so the more skilled you are in architecture and modelling, the greater value you will add to an organisation, and the bigger the upside for your pay packet,” he said.