Hays first Greater China Technology Salary Guide reveals latest talent trends in technology industry

Hays Plc, a leading global professional recruiting group is pleased to announce the launch of the 2022 Hays Salary Guide for the Technology industry in Greater China (“the Guide”) today. Being the first of its kind, the Guide is a supplement to the Hays Asia Salary guide and reveals prominent technology industry trends and findings based on an in-depth survey of over 1,000 workers in the technology industry in Mainland China and Hong Kong SAR.

 

“Despite the challenges brought on by the global pandemic and geopolitical conflicts, there has been considerable activity in employment in the technology sector. These events accelerated the growth of digital transformation and boosted the demand for talent, contributing to the evolving technology professionals’ expectations for an ideal work environment,” said Sue Wei, Managing Director, Hays Hong Kong SAR. “The Guide is a timely resource that tracked and recorded the overall sentiment of this burgeoning industry in Greater China.”

 

The Guide explored industry professionals’ satisfaction toward compensation package, flexible work, career development and vocational skill improvement. It revealed that 53% of technology industry professionals said they were ‘generally satisfied’ with their salary package, with 27% of respondents being ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’. Among them, 40% of HK talents see remuneration as the most important factor; while only 31% of Mainland talents shared the same view.

 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible work has become ‘mandatory’ in the technology industry. In fact, data findings show that 15% of technology professionals in Hong Kong consider work-life balance as the most important factor affecting career choices.

 

Meanwhile, talent is generally satisfied with the relevant flexible work policies of companies (including remote work, flexible working hours, and compressed working hours). In particular, talent in Hong Kong is more satisfied with companies’ flexible work policies, with 56% of respondents being satisfied or very satisfied; in contrast to only 46% of Mainland Chinese talent that were satisfied.

 

The Guide also looked into what technology professionals expect from employers and disclosed that when making career choices, the most important factors for Hong Kong talent are salary and benefits (40%), followed by development and progress (27%), work-life balance (15%) and corporate management and senior leadership (13%). When furthering their career development, the skills that talent most expect additional support and investment are leadership and team management (19%) and strategic thinking and decision making (19%).

 

“In 2022, the technology industry in Greater China is witnessing a new wave of transformation and high-quality development. As a result, companies’ recruitment strategies have changed to varying degrees as they are keeping up with societal development and the new normal,” commented Sue.

 

The Guide touched on the changes of employers’ recruitment strategies when hiring technology talent. In general, demand focuses on compound management talent and specialisation of frontline employees.

 

Compound talent, also known as ‘T-shaped talent’, usually refers to senior talent who simultaneously hold top-level professional skills while specialising in a wide range of applicable management skills. Among the workers surveyed in the Guide, 16% are senior management or executives, 34% are middle management, 47% are technician or junior staff.

 

“In short, employers are looking for professionals with keen insight and stakeholder management capabilities, in addition to technical hard skills and business operation capabilities. As recruitment among the technology industry continue to flourish, employers need to recognise the demand and preferences of professionals for personal development, work-life balance and flexible work, optimise work arrangements, and introduce more flexible work policies, to enhance their company’s attractiveness and retention of outstanding technology talent. We anticipate it to remain the largest recruitment market in Greater China,” said Sue Wei.

 

For more 2022 technology industry trends and insights, download the 2022 Hays Greater China Technology Salary Guide.

 

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