Pinoy developer salaries, the lowest in the world?

This article was written five years ago. That’s the year I graduated from college (computer science). I got hired as a PHP developer working remotely (I’ve never work for a Philippine based companies). I earned 20k a month with a 40 required hours of work in a week in my first year of my job. Right now, I’m still working 40 hours a week and I earned really really really way better from the first year in the career. I’ve been in two companies. The secret is make your self competent, never stop learning and focus to where you are best at. Then you can compete with the rest in the world. Happy coding :)

I do agree with Den. I think it would depend on the workload, experience, job description, and the agreement between the web developer/designer and his would-be employers; and I think Filipino designers and developers today are well-compensated. There are web development companies in the Philippines that value the talent of these individuals and give attractive compensation package to their employees.

Market rates are disheartening people from learning software development. But I actively encourage others especially fresh graduates to work for themselves. I am from Baguio and I encountered people from Bicol and Cebu who do not know benchmark rates. I hired some of them and gave free laptop. I taught them how to challenge clients who balk at high rates. I showed them the possibilities of earning without having any permanent job. These are tough days for anyone. Not just software developers. I heard of CPA’s being paid 10,000 pesos! Mind you, I studied Accountancy and failed that’s why I do software development. Their very low offer to CPA’s is more unnerving in my opinion. These pure Chinese fuckers are full of shit. I am Chinese but not pure. I am very Filipino in my heart and it is painful for me to see people abusing Filipino workers.

Here’s the thing: software developers and everyone in similar fields have choices. Most self-taught and self-employed software developers I know who primarily work for themselves earn a minimum monthly income of 200k/month. Developing for Google Android/ iOS apps would yield an average for $5000/month income which is a fact regardless of where you are in the world. What you earn from being employed against being self-employed may have significant differences.

Early in 2009, 40k was the minimum salary for a “work from home” software developer. If you’re smart enough, you will reach a point when that kind of money is just the interest of your investments. The point is that these are days software developers or makers are no longer getting what they deserve. Some of us do not even have paid holidays.

Please stop blame game however. It’s not the government’s fault. There are really people who will balk at your rates. Market rates will change with more self-employed individuals. Unfortunately these self-employed have a tendency to move to countries like Singapore for tax avoidance.But it’s a very legal option. Just saying.

We programmers need to be more resourceful and imaginative. Sa ngayong kumikita ako ng 20k 1year na ako regular gross yan di net. Pero I do get jobs online at elance.com and other similar sites and get paid for $300 – $1000 a project; that’s if you’re up for multi tasking.

It does not matter the average salaries. The average salaries won’t matter. It depends on you, on how you’ve worked hard to earn that much. If this is really the average salaries in IT related jobs here in the Philippines, then I prefer to join with a company that compensate the effort I’ve done.

Mababa naman masyado. Nung dyan ako nagtrabaho dati as computer programmer nasa 40k php naman ang bigay ng company sa akin. That was 2005.

Dito naman sa saudi para sa mga Salary for Web Developer, Computer Programmer, Systems Developer nasa 2000 USD average.
Pero yung saudi oger mababa ang bigayan, nasa 1200 USD/ 4500 USD.

Saudi Oger – 1200 USD / 4500 SAR Monthly (late ang sahod lagi then minsan pinapalitan nila yung contract)
King Fahad Hospital – 2400 USD/ 9000 SAR Monthly
Military Hospital – 2100 USD/ 8000 SAR Monthly
Dar-Al Riyadh – 12,000 SAR Monthly

I admit, Philippines SUCKS!! also politicians are all mother****ers.

What can you expect? We are in the third world country. Eventually magiging sa BPO na rin kakapit ang mga web developers kaya mas bababa pa yan. Huwag naman sana.

tomooo…
ako nga five years na eh wala pang bente…
mas mababa siguro talaga kapag inhouse developer ka.
pero teka, sakop ko nga rin pala pati pc troubleshooting and repair, lan networking, telephone, paging…
ay shocks, isip2, me anak na nga pala ako this year!
naawa tuloy ako sa sarili ko dahil dito sir abe =(

To nullify the above infographic, may I asked fellow developers and designers to take this simple survey:

What is your current annual salary? (inclusive of all pays, 13th month etc)
Please state your total years in IT industry.

I’ll go first:

Php 1,540,500.00
5 years total IT experience

then you can use that to your advantage. you can underbid competiting countries for contracts

sa mga umaangal, mataas magpasahod ang employer nyo. swerte nyo.
pero mas marami pa rin ang binabarat compared sa average. lalo na sa mga BPO.

actually i find this low figure a good thing because it may be an advertisement for the foreigners to invest here/hire us instead of their own.
it will create more jobs. which is a good thing.

wag na lang masyadong umangal since that average figure is relatively high compared to other workers.

Im not sure where those info were gotten from. But in manila, I know lot of people getting higher than those…and some,even way higher.

That’s the problem w averaging. It simplifies things too much. Your employer can show you that and tell you that they’re paying scale is above average in the phil,but i most of the data came from cebu an your in manila,then the data means little to you.

Plus,if you’re really good,then those phil numbers dont apply to you. IT is the great equalizer. Resources & info are readily available. We must compete worldwide. Not as support,or maintainers,but as producers of quality software.

that is the reason why foreign business do outsourcing here, cheap labor force. by the way if you are senior software engineer working here in PH you can earn a monthly gross salary up to or around 100k, smaller though compares to what they have earned in abroad.

still depends on the skills you have, if you’re good at what you do you could demand for a higher pay..

still, if we’re talking about entry level, it would be a different story..

my two cents.. :)

What else is new, though?

What’s new? nu ba bago sa pinas,

Really? So tell me, bakit kapag ang kumpanya ay nagtitipid eh pinupull out nila ang kanilang projects sa Pilipinas at nililipat sa India? Example is Fujitsu back in 2009.

I’ve with the IT industry industry for 4 years now and I know the data is not true.

the only way to resolve this is to bring K-12 to the Philippine Education system, the Old one must go, hindi na kasi maganda ang lumang educational system, dahil sa discrimination nang other countries pagdating sa education, talo tayo, plus more Out of the School Youth, dropouts atbp., para kapag nakatapos nang buo, no problem at all kapag OFW na sila.

Almost every job in every field in the Philippines is compensated better on other countries. That’s why everyone that is talented goes to work abroad.

Marami kasing pinoy na utu-uto! Kahit mababang sahod tanggap lang ng tanggap. We’re selling ourselves short! People should know what they’re worth before accepting any type of job.

Parang anlabo naman na mas malaki sa india and malaysia. i think di nag kakalayo with those two countries, but regardless lowest talaga in the world. (Although we still dont consider the lifestyle.)

Baka may mga kaibigan kayo na nasa ganitong linya ng trabaho. Bigyan niyo kami ng idea kung magkano sinasahod nila. Baka naman kasi per project basis lang sila o kaya nagta-trabaho sa isang malaking company kaya ganyan kababa ang sahod, pero grabe ang baba nyan.