The upward trend in demand for IT professionals looks set to continue in Malaysia this year,
creating a market that favours employees, according to the Robert Walters Global Salary Survey 2014.
Companies remained cautious in quarter one of 2013 while they waited for financial uncertainty in foreign markets to settle. But this didn't last long and the rest of the year was much more buoyant, with openings across the sector encouraged by multinationals looking to Malaysia for their technology needs.
"This is the biggest trend we've seen in recent years and one we're expecting to continue throughout 2014," says Robert Walters.
In particular, it will be a good year for program and project managers, as well as developers and infrastructure specialists - competition will be stiff for these professionals. However, the recruitment expert expects to see the biggest shortages for technology specialists from software disciplines due to expanding demand and an increased need locally.
In the past few years, Robert Walters has seen generally consistent pay rates, in addition, with the rising demand for IT professionals the recruitment specialist anticipates notable increments in 2014. Established organisations within Malaysia might need to revise budgets to remain competitive and attractive to potential employees.
IT as a whole will experience growth this year, in particular across key areas such as mobile, big data, cloud services and social computing. Professionals with expertise in these areas will be highly sought-after by hiring managers in large and small companies alike.