IT Sector In Singapore looking to increase hiring

Singapore IT professionals should be excited, because a recent study shows that 6 in 10 CIOs expect to raise the headcount at their companies over the next year.

The study showcases that Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are all about to experience good employment opportunity boosts in the technology sector.

The report was put together by Michael Page, and aims to explain some of the reasons the sector is seeing such a jump in numbers.

CIOs showed a fair amount of optimism on employee growth potential, as over 42% of those surveyed predicted the IT job market was about to see an improvement.

Speaking on these expectations, Anthony Thompson, Regional Managing Director of PageGroup Great China & South East Asia, stated, “73% of CIOs increasing their headcount will be doing so by hiring permanent staff, and it is clear that IT professionals with project management, cloud technology and mobility development skills will be in highest demand. Advances in big data mean that data architects, analysts and security experts will be highly sought after.”

The most promising sub-sections of IT work that should see many new openings include mobility, cloud services, and project management. Of the CIOs interviewed, many said that these were the priority areas that needed immediate workers. These areas were stated to be priorities due to the current lack of skilled workers ready to fill the slots in South East Asia.

For employers who are seeking such employees, they plan on attracting/retaining/developing employees by offering in-depth on the job training to make candidates skills even more refined. In fact, 54% of the CIOs interviewed were stated as taking this approach.

Customer experiences were a big focus of CIO concerns as well. Interviewed CIOs showed a major concern with improving processes that would make interaction with customers on mobile and wireless networks more accessible.

Thompson also comments on this issue, stating “We are seeing CIOs shifting from their traditional technical focus to delivering optimal services to their customers. CIOs are also focused on operational efficiency and business resiliency, with 37% stating that only 1 to 2% of their company budget is being reinvested into IT. CIOs are conveying the message that they are doing more with less, as is indicative of the smaller working teams and limited technology budgets.”

For more information on the current boom in the IT sector in South East Asia, check out the full 2015/2016 CIO Viewpoint report.