A recent survey of IT professionals who are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has brought back some revealing information on the labor market for the region. The most unsurprising reveal: That there is a growing demand for IT professionals. I say unsurprising because it follows the international trend of a growing digital economy.
Out of 433 respondents, 54% reported a pay increase, 35% reported receiving a bonus, and only 3% reported a pay cut. These findings show a direct correlation to companies concern for more IT labor. Singapore was shown to be the highest paying region with an average of $66,406, a rate three times higher than other areas in the region. A lot of respondents shared their fear of losing their jobs to automation which is why even with a pay increase, 4/10 said they were open to new opportunities for the chance to improve their skills. Data analytics, security, and cloud computing were among the top listed skills that professionals were wanting to improve. This shows that although digital growth is leading to higher salaries and more positions within IT, the labor force understands this comes with innovative technologies that any potential job candidate needs to be up to date on. The survey also mentioned women participation was low with 18% of IT teams having a good balance of men and women. This isn’t surprising to me either because this follows the international trend of female under-representation in the IT field.
According to a Singapore investment company Temasek Holdings, the digital economy grew by 39% in 2019 and hit the 100 billion mark for the first time. The survey results reaffirm this statistic pretty well I think. Although this growth is ultimately beneficial for companies and IT professionals, it is also important to note that growth in the economy also comes with new skills needed. That’s why IT professionals are pressured to learn new skills. Companies with skill learning programs in place might mitigate losing workers to positions at other companies where employees can learn new skills.
For more information: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252478050/ASEANs-tech-talent-crunch-pushing-up-IT-wages
LIS 4022 Spring 2020 