Pikom expects 5.4 pct rise in average ICT monthly salary for 2018
PETALING JAYA: The National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Association of Malaysia (Pikom) expects the overall average monthly salary of ICT professionals this year to rise 5.4 per cent to RM9,389 from RM8,908 in 2017.
Research Committee chair, Woon Tai Hai said among the five main categories of positions, namely fresh graduates, junior executives, senior executives, managers and senior managers, the expected rise in senior manager’s salary this year is 5.9 per cent followed by managers at 5.7 per cent.
“However, the projected overall average monthly salary for all categories this year will still be lower than the average annual growth rate of seven per cent recorded between 2009 and 2017,” he added.
He was speaking to reporters at the launch of the 11th edition of the ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia.
Woon said the Malaysian ICT industry’s salary scale must be competitive in the region to mitigate the risk of a brain drain of talent, particularly in the cybersecurity sector.
“Our entry level salary must be attractive enough to ensure a continuous build-up of ICT professionals in the long run,” he said.
He noted that data from Jobstreet.com showed there were 4,248 jobs advertised for ICT professionals in the first quarter of this year.
“We hope that by year-end the number of job openings for 2018 to be higher than the 15,197 recorded in 2017,” he said.
Meanwhile, for 2017, PIKOM projects the ICT industry to contribute RM177.7 billion to the gross domestic product from RM164.9 billion in 2016, supported by the ICT services and manufacturing segments. — Bernama