Top 25 Highest Paying Jobs and Careers in Surabaya (East Java)
Surabaya is Indonesia’s second-largest city after Bali and the provincial capital of East Java. The city is also the regional centre for culture, trade, and development. With a population of about 3.15 million people, Surabaya is an important economic hub with an economic output that stands at $38.9 billion. The economic growth of Surabaya is estimated at an annual rate of 6%, driven majorly by a service economy — productive manufacturing, retail, food processing, agriculture, and hospitality sectors.
Surabaya’s historic port is the second-largest in Indonesia and thus a strategic asset to the city’s economy. Due to its attractive business environment, East Java and particularly Surabaya, continues to attract investments from both local and international enterprises. This has created a high number of job positions for both local and foreign professionals.
Even better, East Java Provincial Government set the minimum wage for the region at IDR 1,891,567, making it one of the most protected labour markets in the country and the ASEAN region as a whole. In addition, Surabaya’s economy supports some of the highest-paying careers. This article aims to shed light on these highest-paying jobs in Surabaya.
What is the job landscape like in Surabaya?
Java accounts for 60% of Indonesia’s national production, with East Java making the most contribution. As the provincial capital, Surabaya is the centre of economic growth and business activities. The city has seen rapid economic growth, which is relatively diverse.
Surabaya’s workforce is absorbed into diverse sectors, with the most popular being the IT and computing industry. However, other sectors such as retail, manufacturing, hospitality, construction, and food processing account for 28%,18%, 9%, and 16% of the labour market, respectively. Transport, finance, and the service industry also absorb a fair share of the city’s workforce.
The informal sector in Surabaya accounts for 22% of the city’s employment. Its seaport, the second-largest in the country, creates numerous job opportunities that are also said to be some of the highest-paying jobs in Surabaya.
Home to the port of Tanjung Perak, Surabaya is a thriving commercial, industrial and business centre for eastern Indonesia. The city has recently seen a wave of developments, including an airport expansion and transport linking it to Jakarta and the rest of the island of Java. There have also been initiatives to grow its digital economy, thus making technology experts highly compensated.
The city of Surabaya has an employment rate of 96.1% as of the first quarter of 2022. On the other hand, the unemployment rate has experienced a downward trend for the past 10 years due to the rapid economic growth and industrialisation.
Even better, Surabaya is located near the Brantas River and has relatively good infrastructure and connectivity, making it a good place to work and live. The city offers employment opportunities to foreigners and locals alike, and with its cost of living estimated at $600-$900 per month, anyone can fair well with its high-paying careers.
What are the top 25 highest paid jobs openings in Surabaya?
Average Monthly Salary: |
Salary Range: |
IDR 30,975,897 |
What does a doctor do?
The work of a doctor is to administer care and treatment to patients. Due to the complex nature of the profession, doctors are some of the highest paying jobs in Surabaya.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 46,700,000 |
What does a CEO do?
Chief Executive Officers are in charge of maximising the business profits and value. They report to the board of directors and therefore bear a huge responsibility. For this reason, they are handsomely rewarded, making the role of a CEO one of the highest paying careers.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 30,000,000 |
What does a general manager do?
The general manager is responsible for all aspects of a business, including daily operations, administrative functions, and finances.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 29,600,000 |
What does an operations manager do?
An operations manager oversees high-level human resource duties, including talent acquisition, improving organisational processes, and improving the quality and productivity of employees.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 75,000,000 |
What does a software engineering manager do?
The role of a software engineering manager is to oversee, supervise and guide the work of other software engineers. They must be skilled in programming languages and programs to contribute individually.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 20,000,000 |
What does a mobile applications developer do?
Mobile app developers undertake the task of developing software and applications to run on mobile gadgets and interact with other applications. This is one of the most in-demand skills in Surabaya, thus making it one of the highest paying jobs in Surabaya.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 45,000,000 |
What does a marketing assistant do?
Marketing assistants are professionals who assist with design, promotion, and sales campaigns. They collect the target audience feedback, create graphs, charts, and slides to present to decision-makers.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 50,000,000 |
What does an event executive do?
The work of an event executive is to support the development of the event program and assist in the planning and execution of the project plans for successful completion.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 37,000,000 |
What does an artist do?
The function of an artist is to make simple elements into artistic creations that are unique and capture the viewers’ imagination. Professional artists whose unique creations sell for huge sums of money have some of the highest paid jobs in Surabaya.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 35,600,000 |
What does an information systems security manager
As a manager of information security, this person is in charge of preventing computer viruses, hackers, security breaches, and data theft on company’s computers and servers. Because of the sensitive nature of their work, these managers are well-paid in Surabaya.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 17,500,000 |
What does an accounting manager do?
Accounting managers supervise the accounting of all financial records such as payroll, utilities, and cash receipts. It is a money-handling profession, hence one of the high-paying job openings in Surabaya.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 13,800,000 |
What does an internal auditor do?
Internal Auditors are trained professionals mandated to provide independent and objective scrutiny of a company’s financial and operational activities.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 13,000,000 |
What does a chiropractor do?
A chiropractor is focused on treating the spine by using their hands to examine and treat health conditions related to the bones, muscles, and joints.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 56,000,000 |
What does a database manager do?
A database manager is in charge of creating and managing the systems that an organisation uses to store and arrange data for its business activities.
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 65,000,000 |
What does a data security analyst do?
Working in financial institutions, aviation industries, government agencies and other high-stakes organisations, data security analysts are tasked with ensuring the computer networks and systems are safe from viruses and hackers.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 80,000,000 |
What does a product manager do?
A product manager works with the technical team to determine the product’s parameters and then guides the development of the product from idea to launch. They’ve been known to oversee some of the most hi-tech digital solutions, hence the generous paycheque.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 114,000,000 |
What does a neurologist do?
As a special medical practitioner, a neurologist is a specialist doctor whose work is to diagnose, treat, and manage disorders of the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 40,000,000 |
What does a head chef do?
Surabaya is home to some of the worldly renowned hotels. Their head chefs are responsible for constructing menus with new or existing culinary creations while approving and polishing dishes before they reach the tables.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 5,000,000 |
What does a full-stack developer do?
These are IT professionals with exceptional developer skills and fluent in both front-end and back-end development. Their competency in every stage of development makes them a precious asset to organisations, thus making them high paying job openings in the city.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 26,500,000 |
What does a construction project manager do?
A construction project manager maintains connections with key project stakeholders and plans work schedules that match time frames while taking adjustments in cost or scope into account throughout project execution.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 44,500,000 |
What does a duty manager do?
Hotel duty managers are professionals with exceptional experience in staff and operation management. They are employed in Surabaya’s highly reputable hotel industry to oversee all the operations and daily routines of the hotel staff.
Companies hiring
- JW Marriott Hotel Surabaya
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 42,450,000 |
What does an electrical engineer do?
The work of electrical engineers is to design, develop, test, and manage electrical equipment. They work in electric motors companies, navigation systems, power generation equipment, and even telecommunication systems.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 61,000,000 |
What does a senior legal translator do?
Lawyers in Surabaya are well-paid. This is also true for senior legal translators tasked with manipulating sentences and ideas to have the same meaning as the source language text to help their clients use the translated document to their advantage.
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 15,600,000 |
What does a receptionist do?
A receptionist meets visitors and is responsible for making their arrivals and departures smooth and comfortable. This person provides guests with the information they request, and maintains hotel communications systems (telephone, email, etc.).
Companies hiring
Average Monthly Salary: | Salary Range: |
IDR 26,850,000 |
What does a human resource and general affairs manager do?
A human resource and general affairs officer is responsible for hiring and recruitment and developing HR strategies for the company.
Companies hiring
Find the Highest-Paying Jobs and Careers in Surabaya Today!
Surabaya is a growing economy, and as such, it is always in need of an experienced and skilled workforce. East Java city attracts the most competent candidates for its labour market due to its attractive atmosphere and high paying job openings.
Salaries in Surabaya can range between IDR 10,000,000 to IDR 120,000,000 per month, depending on the profession and the candidates’ experience. It appears that technology industries offer some of the highest paying jobs in Surabaya, but there are sectors such as health, finance and engineering worth considering for their generous pay.
If you want to live and work in Surabaya, check out the above listed job openings and enjoy the working environment in Indonesia’s second-largest city.
Photo by Hobi industri on Unsplash