Demand for tech jobs up 20% on shortage of e-commerce, digital marketing and data science talent

SINGAPORE (Aug 23): The number of tech jobs posted over the past 12 months has increased 20%, according to the latest salary benchmark 2019 report by recruitment agency Michael Page.

The report identified a high demand but shortage of supply for specialised e-commerce, digital marketing and data science local talent, especially when companies are seeking leaders who have the ability to drive digital strategy while anticipating technology disruptors.

Although digital transformation seemed to be the ongoing focus, cybersecurity prefaced many organisations’ demand to improve operational technology – resulting in a huge demand for both IT security and transformation-led technical roles.

The report went on to highlight how the need for niche skills and evolving technology landscape were seeing huge transformations, leading to higher expectations of salary increases when switching jobs in similar industries.

In particular, a 12-20% increase in salaries was expected in technology talent, while a 10-15% increase was expected for digital talent.

According to the report, roles in demand for the technology sector included IT security leads, data scientists and other digital transformation-led roles, while digital roles in demand include digital and performance marketing managers and digital content managers.

On the whole, the industry’s employment market appeared to be strong, as 60% of job seekers feel positive about the employment market.

Looking ahead, the report advocated that technology recruitment continues to focus on data skills and cybersecurity, which are fundamentals that businesses today must address to ensure their digital transformation is successful.

Shinjika Shukla, associate director of technology practice at Michael Page Singapore, says, “In a market where roles in technology and digital can be hard to fill, employers need to invest in excellent workplace training and development. This is a spur to attracting great candidates – and helps you retain them as well.”