Why does the tech talent crisis persist despite a larger pool

A recently published report, the “Robert Walters Hong Kong Tech & Transformation Mid-year Market Update” reveals a complex landscape for the tech industry in Hong Kong. Despite a cautious hiring approach among tech employers in Hong Kong, the report, which includes a survey of over 120 business decision-makers in tech reveals that 67% of employers are still struggling to find candidates who possess the necessary technical and soft skills, despite the larger pool of tech talent now available. This difficulty is particularly acute at the managerial level, with 50% of employers reporting a shortage of qualified talent for manager or team leader roles. 

“The Big Stay”: candidates slower to jump ship 

Top talent is becoming more cautious about switching jobs, resulting in longer tenures among IT professionals - average tenure has risen from 1.4 years in Q3 2023 to 1.6 years in the first half of 2024, according to LinkedIn Talent Insights. This is possibly a result of the high number of job changes during the overheated job market of 2021-2022 and current fears over job security amid economic uncertainties, a phenomenon termed "The Big Stay." 

Vivian Tsang, associate director at recruitment specialist Robert Walters, informs: 

Specifically, this means that candidates are less transparent, more selective about terms of employment and slower to make decisions in their search for a new job.

This selectiveness is compounded by a tendency to be less committed in their applications, frequently exploring multiple offers simultaneously and prolonging the decision-making process. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to attract top talent in the market. 

Slow recovery of tech job market in the second half of the year 

The survey conducted by Robert Walters Hong Kong shows that 53% hiring managers in tech are planning to increase their headcounts in the next 6-12 months. Employers are advised to speed up their recruitment processes to attract the top-quality talent. 

Additionally, 50% of employers report a shortage of qualified talent at the manager or team leader level. This is particularly noticeable in the digital transformation sector, where companies are looking for experienced leaders who can guide strategic and timely decisions that streamline costs and improve efficiencies. 

Top in-demand professions in the first half of 2024 

Data, governance & GenAI

• Data scientists
• CRM data analysts and data architects 

Infrastructure

• Specialist in designing cyber security architecture on cloud platforms 
• PA professionals 
• Contract IT project administrators 

Application Development 

• System Analysts 
• Technical Leads (capable in designing systems and managing offshore teams)  
• Site Reliability Engineer  

Digital Transformation  

• Domain experts  
• Contractors with specific domain knowledge or technical expertise 

Searching talent from Mainland China for data & AI expertise 

The rapid growth of AI, machine learning, and data science has created an urgent need for specialised talent.  Professionals in these fields can often command salary increases of 15-20% or more when moving to new permanent roles. 

With the HK government's Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) increasing the number of working visas issued, it has presented an opportunity for employers to tap into the Greater Bay Area talent pool to bridge their skills gap. Employers in Hong Kong are turning to Mainland China to hire talent to satisfy the specialised expertise they require. 

Top skills shaping the market in the first half of 2024 

Data, governance & GenAI 

• Managing data source integration, data pipeline building, data transformation 
• Proficient in tools i.e. Snowflake, Power BI, Tableau, Python, SQL 
• Azure, Databricks and Data Factory 

Infrastructure 

• DevOps/Cloud Automation
• Designing, deploying, and managing enterprise infrastructure on multiple cloud environments 
• Palo Alto (PA) firewall knowledge 
• Hwawei knowledge 
• MongoBD and MSSQL automation 

Application Development 

• Java, full-slack development, web development, and QA automation engineering 
• Spring Boot, Hibernate, ReactJS, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms like AWS and Azure 
• Microsoft Power Platform development, DevOps, and cloud SRE engineering, particularly with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform and Ansible 

Digital Transformation   

• ERP and CRM & Data
• Relevant Domain expertise 

Companies becoming more strategic in hiring of tech talent 

According to the report, many companies are offshoring certain functions to Southeast Asia. This has led to a heightened demand for system analysts and technical leads capable of designing systems and managing offshore teams. In the meantime, IT decision-makers are specifically looking to hire contractors to take the role of IT project administrators, who are expected to have experience in network and workstation setup for their relocation projects.

In response to the skill shortage challenges, hiring contractors has emerged as a cost-effective approach to secure professionals with in-demand skill sets. Organisations are often willing to offer higher hourly rates to contractors in exchange for the flexibility of engaging them for short-term projects. The salary increments for project-based contracts with a duration of 1-2 years is around 20-25%.

“It has been a norm for tech professionals to take contractor roles to gain exposure to new technologies and projects across the industry in a short time. Companies tend to extend contracts for qualified talent, especially those with specific domain knowledge or technical expertise. The extension rate is approximately 70%,” commenting on this trend, Vivian Tsang, associate director of Robert Walters Hong Kong.