Steep salary hike on the cards for local IT professionals

Pay will increase by as much as 15%.

If you’re a tech specialist working in Singapore, then now might be a good time to ask for a raise. Information technology professionals will enjoy fatter paychecks this year on back of talent scarcity, according to a report by ZW HR Consulting.

The report said that the average salary ranges for professionals will increase by 10% to 15% for 2015/16 as compared to the 2014/15 figures.

Hiring also remains strong in many areas such as mobile applications, data analytics, business intelligence and cloud computing.

Cyber security professionals and application developers are also in demand due to increasing regulations and customer's concern for data protection.

But generous salary hikes aren’t the only way to retain top talent, said the report.

“Companies in Singapore will have to look at options besides simply increasing remuneration if they wish to attract and retain the best talent. Work-life balance and employee engagement policies are equally important and will need to be leveraged effectively in order to keep Singapore-based organisations competitive on a global scale,” the report said.