IT sector to see growth in hiring demand in 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: The information technology (IT) sector is expected to see growth in hiring demand next year following the increase in the adoption of digital transformation programmes by businesses, said Kimberlyn Lu, country head of specialist professional recruitment firm, Robert Walters Sdn Bhd.
She said the sector would also continue to be a candidate-driven market with salary increments of between 20 and 30 per cent.
“In the IT sector, more companies are expected to offshore IT functions to Malaysia as a strategy to save cost and gain accessibility to other countries in Southeast Asia.
“This will lead to higher demand for user interface designers, web developers, digital project managers and candidates with skill in open source and cyber security,” she told a media briefing on Robert Walters Salary Survey 2018 yesterday.
However, based on the survey, she said companies may have challenges finding IT talents due to the high demand for software developers.
“As a result, quality candidates with niche IT skills are likely to receive several job offers,” she added.
Meanwhile, on the overall hiring activity in Malaysia, Lu said it was projected to remain active in 2018, driven by a thriving business environment attributed to, among others, the continuous growth of e-commerce, digitalisation, financial technology, shared services and better optimisation of organisational structure.
“In an environment of strong counter offers, companies need to ensure good talent attraction and retention strategy is in place, for example, offering competitive salary packages, efficient recruitment processes and timely hires and better workforce engagement.
“As candidates may have more than one job offerings, it would be advantageous for companies to build their employer brand value as one of the attraction strategies,” she said. — Bernama