How much to pay an intern in Singapore
The typical internship in Singapore pays about S$1,000 a month. Across 659 internships posted on Worksider, half paid between S$800 and S$1,000, and 2% paid under S$500. If you offer at least the typical figure for your field and say so on the listing, the pay will not be the reason good people pass you by.
These are not survey answers. They are the allowances companies wrote on their own internship listings on Worksider between 2020 and 2026, and the full breakdown updates itself as new roles are posted.
What is typical, by field
| Field | Typical | Middle half |
|---|---|---|
| Finance | S$1,000 | S$800 to S$1,500 |
| Business Development / Sales | S$1,000 | S$800 to S$1,200 |
| Engineering | S$1,000 | S$1,000 to S$1,200 |
| Software Engineering | S$1,000 | S$800 to S$1,200 |
| Human Resources | S$1,000 | S$800 to S$1,200 |
| Marketing | S$1,000 | S$800 to S$1,000 |
| Operations | S$900 | S$750 to S$1,000 |
| Design | S$800 | S$700 to S$1,000 |
| Media / Communications | S$800 | S$600 to S$1,000 |
Finance internships sit at the top of this table and media / communications at the bottom, and the typical figures are S$200 a month apart. Where you sit inside your field's range matters more than which field you are in.
What the schools suggest
Several schools publish a recommended allowance for the internships they run, and they are a useful check on the figures above:
- SMU: S$800 to S$1,500 a month. Source
- SIT: S$1,500 or more for its 8 to 12 month Integrated Work Study Programme, where the student works much like a junior hire. Source
- Ngee Ann Polytechnic: S$600 to S$1,500. Source
- Singapore Polytechnic: S$600 to S$1,200, depending on the school. Source
- Republic Polytechnic: an average of S$800, varying by industry. Source
Is there a minimum allowance?
No. Singapore has no minimum wage (MOM), and no law sets a figure for interns. What sets the floor in practice is the market, and the schools' ranges above. A listing offering well under the typical figure for its field gets fewer applications.
The allowance is not the only cost. For a Singaporean or PR intern whose internship is not approved by their school, CPF is payable on top. Hiring your first intern covers CPF and the other rules.
Picking a figure
- Start from your field's typical figure. That is the number most students in that field will be comparing you with.
- Pay more for skills that are scarce. If the role needs someone who can already code, edit video well or work with financial models, the upper end of the middle half is where you compete.
- Be specific about hours. An allowance for three days a week is fine, as long as the listing says three days. Students compare monthly figures, so a part-week role should say so plainly.
- Count the extras, but do not lean on them. Transport claims, meals and a laptop are welcome. They rarely make up for an allowance below the typical figure.
Show the figure on the listing
About two in three internships on Worksider state their allowance, and the ones that do not are asking students to apply on trust. A clear number also travels further: Google for Jobs shows it beside your role when it is on the listing. If you would rather not publish it, you can still keep it hidden on Worksider; it will only count, anonymously, in averages like the ones on this page.