Compare your annual salary (2008)

u mean oil companies are only willing to pay upwards slowly like cooking a frog in slow boiling water ??

hahaaaa

dude you make loads if you are in oil and gas..try reading the post again

Nope. Not at all. Our company is very strong financially and adopt a long term view towards business decisions. This kind of economic downturn is already within expectations. How about yours?

XX, you sounded like a high flier. Even then, don't be too cocky. What comes around goes around. Oil companies may be less aggressive when it comes to salary increments and bonus compared to the banks. But at least they are sustainable. And I tend to agree with the oil companies approach. When you are paying a mediocre guy working in a banker a few hundred thousands dollars per year in salary, I wonder if they know what they are paying for. Are you as an individual really that superb? I doubt that there are too many lee kuan yews around, especially in the banks. Otherwise, tell me why we have citigroup, Merril lynch, Morgan Stanley, AIG etc all on the brink of bankruptcies? And FYI, major oil companies like exxonmobil, shell and chevron are still making record profits in times like this. And having such profits mean job security. So back off from your childish provocation.

not bad oledi, the high oil price that we saw early this year was purely due to the speculation in the paper market. All the talks about the high oil prices reflecting the high demand and tight supply is pure nonsense. Why do I say that? Very simple. Does demand change overnight? Answer is no. Crude oil prices came down drastically over the last few months. Yes. Global demand is weakening due to economic downturn. But the demand doesn't change overnight. Generally, factories do not take spot contracts. So you do not expect your demand for crude oil to change drastically over a short period of time. The only reason that could explain the big change is due to speculators in the paper markets. Which primarily links back to the oil trading firms and banks eventually. You may say that I am biased towards the financial sector. But I seriously feel that there is a problem with the financial industry. Even before the credit bubble burst, I alwawys feel that all the banks and insurance companies are like a bunch of scams trying to lure law abidding citizens like you and myself to fall into their traps. Once enough people have fallen, the traps ll close to liquidate their profits.

To Nick...At the moment we are still quite safe as we have a large back log order that is able to tide us through. But projects are thinning out as a result of the global recession. Oil companies are suspending drilling programs, rigs are on standby...so hopefully things will turn around in Q12009

Wow, you guys are sure earning loads .. I'm getting $65k a year, including 1 month AWS, excluding bonus. Felt squeezed in Singapore, hands tied when shopping. Now getting into Malaysia more often when I can see my purchasing power double

Nick,

the company decides your wage level accordingly to the revenue/profit/cost ratios. So generally financial sector pays better because of the simple revenue/cost ratio. of cos you cannot differentiate one with another just by mere pay figures alone. there are loads of other criteria to consider.

oil prices coming off is a cumulation of both speculative positions unwinding and a drop in real demand.

i do agree with you, the whole credit bubble could be felt in 2006/07. a exponential upmove is never sustainable in the long run. so what we are seeing now is a good unwinding of that impulsive surge.

the real question and concern now is if the real economy is that devasted and the fragmented credit market will function smoothly again. remember, capitalism requires credit creation as a lubricant to move forward.

hi nick, my company just acquired one more company and is still hiring aggressively in the APAC region. She sees this as an opportunity to expand and grab market share while most competitors are retrenching and/or merging. I am sure the slowdown in the economy will reduce the pipeline and deals that will go through the next couple of years ( I seriously don't think the economy will recover that quickly) but we have a very high customer retention rate.
I think this recession will shake up many businesses and small players will fallout. More consolidations, and typically more regulation in certain sectors. I still see tremendous opportunity in APAC.

Just adding to the "datapoints" in the ongoing discussion here. I have 4 yrs working experience in a statutory board, joined right out of university. Currently earning about S$115k per annum total (iuclusive bonuses), give or take 10k depending on the bonus situation.