SINGAPORE: New data from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) shows that workers in Administrative & Support Services enjoyed the strongest wage growth in 2025, outpacing employees in finance, insurance and several other traditionally higher-paying industries.
The figures come from MOM’s Report on Wage Practices 2025, released on May 28, and offer a closer look at how salaries moved across different sectors over the past two years.
Earlier this year, MOM reported that Singapore’s median mo
SINGAPORE: New data from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) shows that workers in Administrative & Support Services enjoyed the strongest wage growth in 2025, outpacing employees in finance, insurance and several other traditionally higher-paying industries.
The figures come from MOM’s Report on Wage Practices 2025, released on May 28, and offer a closer look at how salaries moved across different sectors over the past two years.
Earlier this year, MOM reported that Singapore’s median monthly salary rose to S$5,775 in 2025, a 5% increase from 2024. The latest breakdown shows that the gains were far from uniform.
Support services came out on top
According to the MOM data, workers in Administrative & Support Services received average wage increases of 7.5% in 2025, making the sector the strongest performer among all major industries.
At the other end of the table were Accommodation and Food & Beverage (F&B) Services, which recorded the slowest salary growth.
Finance and insurance jobs are associated with higher pay packages, yet their wage growth over the past two years hasn’t kept pace with that in support services.
Nick Karean/The Independent Singapore News
MOM: Report on Wage Practices 2025
The findings show that salary growth and salary size aren’t always the same. A sector can offer high pay while still recording slower annual increases than industries playing catch-up.
Two years of gains add up
Looking at cumulative wage growth from 2024 and 2025 paints an even clearer picture. Workers in Administrative & Support Services saw wages rise by nearly 17% over the two-year period. In practical terms, that amounts to roughly two extra months of 2023 salary spread across the period.
Workers in sectors near the bottom of the rankings still experienced gains, though at a slower pace. Their cumulative wage growth ranged between about 8% and 9%, equivalent to roughly one additional month of 2023 income.
One notable change involved Wholesale Trade. While it slipped to the bottom of the cumulative rankings, the sector may be positioned for a stronger recovery.
Nick Karean/The Independent Singapore News
MOM: Report on Wage Practices 2025
According to the data, rising demand linked to electronics manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI) has boosted trading activity and improved sentiment within the industry.
The wage outlook for 2026 remains mixed
Singapore’s economy expanded by 6% in the first quarter of the year, showing strength across multiple sectors. Yet businesses are also facing uncertainty stemming from geopolitical tensions and disruptions affecting trade and energy markets, which may make employers more cautious when deciding on salary increases.
Workers in electronics manufacturing and wholesale trade could be among the better-positioned groups if current industry trends continue. Strong demand tied to AI-related supply chains has helped drive activity, and profitable companies may have more room to reward staff.
For many other sectors, however, wage growth could depend on how global economic conditions develop over the coming months.
Number averages only tell part of the story
The latest MOM figures show why headline salary numbers never tell the whole story. A rising national median wage is encouraging, but workers experience the economy differently depending on where they work.
For employees, the report offers a useful benchmark. For employers, it serves as a snapshot of where competition for talent is heating up.
As always, salary growth is strongest when businesses perform well, and workers continue to build valuable skills. Economic conditions matter, but so does staying adaptable in a changing job market.
Curls, a Stone Age character from B.C., spent the week in The Middle Ages’ Kingdom of Id. While the Wizard Of Id spent time in prehistorical B.C. (supposedly). My biggest disappointment was that it didn’t turn in to a true crossover with the week’s B.C. comic strips showing The Wizard interacting with the cavemen. Though […]
Curls, a Stone Age character from B.C., spent the week in The Middle Ages’ Kingdom of Id. While the Wizard Of Id spent time in prehistorical B.C. (supposedly). My biggest disappointment was that it didn’t turn in to a true crossover with the week’s B.C. comic strips showing The Wizard interacting with the cavemen. Though […]
If your bedroom feels cramped, cluttered, or smaller than it should, the solution usually isn’t more space—it’s a few smarter design decisions. The way your furniture is arranged, how your eye moves through the room, and even the scale of your lighting can make a noticeable difference in how spacious it feels.
We’re all drawn to those impossibly charming spaces: the Paris apartment, the cozy but perfectly arranged bedroom, and the ones that feel light-filled and effortless even when they’re
If your bedroom feels cramped, cluttered, or smaller than it should, the solution usually isn’t more space—it’s a few smarter design decisions. The way your furniture is arranged, how your eye moves through the room, and even the scale of your lighting can make a noticeable difference in how spacious it feels.
We’re all drawn to those impossibly charming spaces: the Paris apartment, the cozy but perfectly arranged bedroom, and the ones that feel light-filled and effortless even when they’re not especially big. The fact that they work has nothing to do with square footage. Instead, it’s because everything inside them feels considered.
That’s the shift: creating a bedroom that feels bigger is about how the space functions—and how it makes you feel when you’re in it. The easiest solve? Remove what’s getting in the way.
Small Shifts That Make Your Bedroom Feel Bigger—Fast
Sure, it’s subtle, but in practice, it’s what changes everything. If your bedroom feels smaller than it should, a few thoughtful shifts can change how the entire space reads—fast. Start here:
1. Leave at least one area intentionally open. A room feels bigger when not every corner is trying to do something.
2. Remove one piece of furniture you don’t actually need. If it’s not essential, it’s taking up visual space.
3. Choose fewer, better-proportioned pieces. Oversized furniture closes a room in faster than you think.
4. Keep surfaces intentionally clear. Not empty—just free of anything that doesn’t need to be there.
5. Use lighting that gives the room breathing room. Think slimmer lamps, sconces, or anything that doesn’t crowd the surface it sits on.
6. Draw the eye upward. Artwork, vertical lines, or even higher curtain placement can subtly expand the space.
7. Let your bed have space on at least one side. Even a small gap can make the layout feel more open.
8. Stick to a more tonal color palette. When colors flow, the eye moves more easily—and the room feels larger.
9. Use mirrors to reflect light, not just fill a wall. Placement matters more than size.
10. Keep sightlines clear from the doorway inward. What you see first shapes how spacious the room feels.
These shifts might feel small, but they’re the same principles designers use to make a space feel considered, balanced, and more expansive. To take it a step further, I asked designers how they approach small bedrooms. Take out your notepad (and prepare your Pinterest board). These small bedroom design tips are gold.
9 Designer-Approved Ways to Make a Bedroom Feel Bigger
1. Start With Less Than You Think You Need
The fastest way to make a small bedroom feel bigger is to remove what isn’t essential.
It sounds obvious, but it’s where most spaces go wrong—trying to fit in one more chair, one more surface, one more piece that doesn’t quite have a role. As designer Katie Raffetto puts it, “less is more,” especially in a bedroom.
If it’s not helping you sleep, store, or soften the space, it’s likely adding visual noise.
Strip the room back to what you actually use—a bed, a place to set things down, lighting that works—and let everything else be intentional.
A bedroom feels bigger the moment it stops trying to be anything other than a bedroom.
2. Rethink the Scale of Your Furniture
In a small bedroom, the issue isn’t always how much you have—it’s how much space your furniture takes up.
A queen bed might feel like the default, but if it leaves you with barely any room to move, it’s working against the space. The same goes for bulky nightstands, oversized dressers, or anything that sits heavy in the room. Even creating space on just one side of the bed can make the entire layout feel more open.
Designer Cameron Johnson refers to this as “space engineering”—making decisions that create room around your furniture, not just filling the room with it. Sometimes that means choosing a smaller bed, a narrower nightstand, or a piece that can serve more than one function.
3. Use Color to Your Advantage (Not Just for Aesthetics)
Color doesn’t just change how a room looks—it changes how it feels. In smaller bedrooms, there’s often a tendency to default to all white in hopes of making the space feel bigger. But according to Raffetto, leaning into deeper, more saturated tones can actually create the opposite effect—in a good way. “Dark colors allow you to lean into the coziness,” she says, turning the room into something that feels intentional rather than constrained.
The key is consistency. When your palette feels cohesive—whether it’s light and tonal or rich and layered—the eye moves more fluidly through the space. And that sense of visual continuity can make a room feel larger, not smaller. A room feels bigger when your eye isn’t constantly stopping to process contrast.
4. Keep Your Sightlines Clear
What you see first when you walk into your bedroom sets the tone for how the entire space feels. If your line of sight is blocked—by bulky furniture, clutter, or awkward layout—the room immediately reads as smaller. But when that path is open, even a compact space can feel noticeably more expansive.
Designers often think about this as creating a clear visual entry point. The less your eye has to work to understand the space, the bigger it feels.
5. Draw the Eye Upward
One of the simplest ways to make a bedroom feel bigger is to change where the eye goes. When everything sits at the same level—low furniture, low art placement, nothing pulling your gaze upward—the room can start to feel compressed. Designers counter this by using vertical space to create a sense of expansion.
That might look like hanging artwork slightly higher than expected, extending the visual height of your headboard, or mounting curtains closer to the ceiling to elongate the walls. As Johnson notes, even something as simple as placing art above the bed can help “extend the headboard” and shift how the room is perceived.
It’s a subtle trick, but it works: when your eye travels up, the room opens with it.
6. Use Mirrors With Intention
Mirrors are often recommended for small spaces—but how you use them matters more than simply having one.
Placed thoughtfully, a mirror can reflect natural light, extend a sightline, or create the illusion of depth. Placed randomly, it just becomes another object on the wall. Again, you’re not filling the space for the sake of it. The goal is to amplify what’s already working.
7. Choose Pieces That Do More Than One Thing
In a smaller bedroom, every piece should earn its place. When square footage is limited, adding more furniture isn’t the answer—choosing smarter furniture is. Pieces that can serve multiple functions allow you to get what you need from the space without visually crowding it.
Raffetto suggests something as simple as placing a dresser next to the bed so it doubles as a nightstand. Johnson echoes this approach, pointing to bed frames with built-in storage as a way to eliminate the need for additional pieces.
Lighting has a bigger impact on how spacious a room feels than most people realize. Oversized lamps and bulky fixtures can take over a surface, making everything around them feel tighter. Raffetto recommends choosing streamlined lighting—slimmer lamps or wall-mounted sconces—that give your furniture room to breathe.
It’s also about placement. When light is distributed thoughtfully, it softens the edges of the room and reduces visual clutter. When it’s not, even a well-designed space can start to feel crowded.
Editing a room down is only half the equation. The other half is knowing when it feels complete.
A space can be minimal and still feel unfinished. The difference comes down to how the elements work together. When a room feels resolved, your eye isn’t jumping from object to object or looking for what’s missing—it can settle.
Designers create this sense of closure through a few intentional choices: curtains that frame the room, a rug that grounds the bed, and a mirror that reflects light into the space. Not more pieces—just the right ones, placed with purpose.
The One Thing That Makes a Bedroom Feel Smaller
Most bedrooms don’t feel small because of their size. They feel small because too many things are competing for attention. When every surface is filled, every corner is doing something, and every piece of furniture is slightly too big or slightly out of place, the room starts to feel visually crowded—even if there’s technically enough space.
Designers think about this differently. It’s about centering in on what the room doesn’t need. Because the moment your eye has space to move—to land, to rest—the entire room opens up.
This post was last updated on April 8, 2026, to include new insights.
Editor’s note: In what could be one of the most consequential elections in Los Angeles’ history, the race this year for mayor sees two former allies in an increasingly sharp bid to take over City Hall. With many issues in the contest between incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Nithya Raman and reality TV vet Spencer Pratt impacting the entertainment industry, Deadline […]
Editor’s note: In what could be one of the most consequential elections in Los Angeles’ history, the race this year for mayor sees two former allies in an increasingly sharp bid to take over City Hall. With many issues in the contest between incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Nithya Raman and reality TV vet Spencer Pratt impacting the entertainment industry, Deadline […]
SINGAPORE: Singapore workers received pay rises for a second straight year in 2025, although wage growth slowed compared with 2024.
The good news is that workers were still better off in real terms. With inflation easing, salaries stretched further, giving employees a stronger boost in purchasing power than the year before.
According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on May 28, nominal wages for full-time resident employees who stayed with the same employer for at least a year rose by 4.9 per ce
SINGAPORE: Singapore workers received pay rises for a second straight year in 2025, although wage growth slowed compared with 2024.
The good news is that workers were still better off in real terms. With inflation easing, salaries stretched further, giving employees a stronger boost in purchasing power than the year before.
According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on May 28, nominal wages for full-time resident employees who stayed with the same employer for at least a year rose by 4.9 per cent in 2025, down fro`m 5.6 per cent in 2024. After adjusting for inflation, real wages increased by 4.0 per cent, up from 3.2 per cent the previous year.
Nick Karean/The Independent Singapore News
MOM: Wage Growth 2025
The figures suggest that while pay packets didn’t grow as fast based on data, workers still benefited from a lower cost-of-living environment than in 2024.
More companies remained profitable
MOM’s report showed that business conditions stayed fairly healthy through 2025. More than eight in 10 establishments, or 83.1 per cent, reported making a profit, up from 80.8 per cent in 2024. At the same time, the share of companies reporting losses fell to 16.9 per cent from 19.2 per cent a year earlier.
The data paints a picture of a business sector that stayed resilient despite ongoing global economic uncertainty. Smaller firms were still more likely to report losses than larger companies, mirroring the tougher operating conditions faced by businesses with fewer resources.
Employers became more careful with salary increases for employees
While most employers continued raising salaries for workers, there were signs of greater caution. About 72.4 per cent of establishments increased wages in 2025, down from 78.3 per cent in 2024. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of firms left wages unchanged, up from 18.5 per cent the year before.
Among companies that granted pay increases, the average wage rise was 5.8 per cent. Employee retention remained the main reason employers chose to increase salaries. In a tight labour market, retaining experienced staff remains a priority for many businesses.
Only 3.1 per cent of companies reduced wages; those that did generally faced weaker business performance than in the previous year. The trend shows that workers still expect wage growth, but businesses are also preparing for economic uncertainty and rising costs.
Wage gains spread across sectors and job levels
One notable finding from the report was that wage growth was broad-based. Rank-and-file employees saw wages grow by 4.8 per cent, junior managers by 5.1 per cent and senior managers by 4.9 per cent. The differences between these groups narrowed, suggesting gains were shared more evenly across the workforce.
Every sector recorded positive wage growth. Administrative and Support Services posted the strongest increase at 7.5 per cent. The sector includes cleaning, security and landscape services, where lower-wage workers continue to benefit from the Progressive Wage Model and Local Qualifying Salary requirements.
Financial Services and Insurance Services also recorded healthy wage growth as demand remained strong for professionals and managers.
Nick Karean/The Independent Singapore News
MOM: Wage Growth by Industry 2025
The accommodation and construction sectors still saw pay increases, but at a slower pace than the previous year, as hiring demand stabilised following the post-pandemic rebound.
Workers can expect real wage growth to stay positive in 2026
MOM expects real wage growth to remain positive in 2026. However, businesses are likely to stay cautious when deciding on salary increases due to inflation risks and geopolitical tensions.
As such, workers may continue seeing pay rises, but probably not at the pace many experienced during the stronger post-pandemic recovery years.
The report indicates that wage growth is still tied to productivity. Sustainable salary increases depend on businesses becoming more productive, workers upgrading their skills and companies maintaining healthy financial performance.
What matters more now than how much salaries increase is how much purchasing power is left for Singaporeans after their everyday expenses are paid.
SINGAPORE: There is a growing mismatch between fresh graduates’ salary expectations and the realities of the job market, as a recent report pointed out. Singaporeans who commented, however, asked about the bonuses of top executives, as well as the high salaries ministers receive.
A June 1 video from CNA titled “Fresh grads in Singapore may need to taper salary expectations amid uncertainty: Analysts” cited a survey from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) of residents aged 22 to 28, which said that g
SINGAPORE: There is a growing mismatch between fresh graduates’ salary expectations and the realities of the job market, as a recent report pointed out. Singaporeans who commented, however, asked about the bonuses of top executives, as well as the high salaries ministers receive.
A June 1 video from CNA titled “Fresh grads in Singapore may need to taper salary expectations amid uncertainty: Analysts” cited a survey from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) of residents aged 22 to 28, which said that graduates in most fields earned less than they had anticipated when entering the workforce.
One-third of university graduates who rejected job offers cited low pay as the reason, showing that salary considerations were a major factor in job decisions. The other reasons for turning down job opportunities were the applicants deciding to wait for better opportunities or concerns about job interest, workplace culture, or career advancement prospects.
The report featured experts who said graduates often aim for higher starting salaries because they believe initial pay significantly influences future earnings and career progression. However, the survey found substantial gaps between expected and actual salaries, particularly among graduates in engineering, science, and information technology, who earned roughly S$500 to S$750 less than expected. The gap was even greater for graduates in business administration and natural and mathematical sciences. Graduates of law, education, and fine and applied arts courses generally met or exceeded their salary expectations.
Furthermore, while MOM expects wages to continue to rise, employers are likely to adopt a more cautious approach to salary increases due to global economic uncertainty and inflation concerns. Analysts warn that graduates who maintain unrealistic salary expectations may prolong their job search and risk missing valuable opportunities. Employers may also face challenges, including longer hiring processes and higher offer rejection rates. These conditions could contribute to underemployment, where individuals work in roles that do not fully utilise their skills.
What Singaporeans are saying
Netizens commenting on the piece understandably expressed dissatisfaction, given that the news affects the youngest cohort of workers who are struggling amid a tight job market, even as jobs are eaten away at by Artificial Intelligence.
The negative feelings appear to be further amplified by top executives of large companies bringing home millions in bonuses, as well as the high salaries that ministers receive, which are among the largest in the world.
“Ministers/MPs need to taper minimum 50% of their salaries,” a YouTube user wrote.
“Ministers should walk the talk,” another agreed.
“Then ask those in top management not to get fat bonuses every year,” a commenter added.
Others pointed out that some jobs in Singapore have been outsourced to foreign talent who were likely to have paid much less for education.
On Reddit, a user on the platform said that those who own property are the lucky ones.
“You know who the winners are? Only those who inherited properties from their grandparents or parents. One sliver of a shop space in Toa Payoh is going for 9k. Wow,” they wrote. /TISG
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is in talks with investors to refinance a nearly $1 billion loan at a 15% interest rate for Sable Offshore Corp., a Trump administration-supported oil driller, according to people familiar with the matter.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is in talks with investors to refinance a nearly $1 billion loan at a 15% interest rate for Sable Offshore Corp., a Trump administration-supported oil driller, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sable Offshore Corp.'s Santa Ynez Unit in Santa Barbara, California, US, on Friday, June 5, 2026. California producer Sable Offshore Corp. expects to restart a platform capable of pumping 10,000 barrels of oil a day some time in the third quarter this year, the company said in an investor presentation Monday.
There was never going to be an easy way for Mitch Hurwitz to follow up Arrested Development. But that’s exactly what he tried to do with the bizarre project that is Sit Down, Shut Up. In 2009, a few years after his cult classic show came to its (first) conclusion, Fox greenlit Hurwitz’s US take on Sit Down, Shut Up. The expectation was that whatever came next for him would recapture the same lightning-in-a-bottle magic that made Arrested Development one of the greatest sitcom masterpieces of all
There was never going to be an easy way for Mitch Hurwitz to follow up Arrested Development. But that’s exactly what he tried to do with the bizarre project that is Sit Down, Shut Up. In 2009, a few years after his cult classic show came to its (first) conclusion, Fox greenlit Hurwitz’s US take on Sit Down, Shut Up. The expectation was that whatever came next for him would recapture the same lightning-in-a-bottle magic that made Arrested Development one of the greatest sitcom masterpieces of all time.
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