Hong Kong Computer Society Announces a Positive Results of ICT Industry Employment and Salary Trend Survey

• Hong Kong Computer Society Announces a Positive Results of ICT Industry Employment and Salary Trend Survey

• 77.78% of ICT Professionals will enjoy a Pay Rise this year and 55.72% among them will witness an average growth rate of 4% or above

• In 2023: ICT Professionals in 88.78% Companies Enjoyed a Pay Rise; 55.67% Companies Increased ICT headcount; Nearly 80% ICT Graduates Earned more than $18K

Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS) recently announced positive results of Hong Kong ICT Industry Employment and Salary Trend Survey. 77.78% of surveyed companies will raise the salary of ICT Professionals this year, of which 55.72% of the respondents will have an average growth rate of 4% or more.

Besides, in the year of 2023, 87.78% of ICT professionals received a pay rise while 60.76% of the companies offered a raise at 4% or above, outperforming the inflation rate of 1.7% stated in Budget 2024. Facing to the return to normalcy after the epidemic, based on the survey findings, 84.45% of respondents did not layoff ICT staff. Instead, 56.67% of the respondents confirmed an increase in headcount, reflecting a better career prospect in the ICT industry.

Moreover, 50% of the respondents hired ICT fresh graduates in 2023, with 80% of them offering a starting monthly salary over HK$18,000, while over 35.56% of them offering higher than HK$22,000 per month. Nearly 50% of companies offered a raise at over 4%, indicating an excellent prospect for ICT graduates.

Dr. Rocky Cheng, the President of Hong Kong Computer Society said, “ICT industry has been lacking of talents. In comparison with over 85% in 2023, HKCS recorded a pay rise for ICT professionals in over 77.78% companies this year with the rate outperforming the inflation rate, which is an indication of stable growth of ICT salary and a good industry prospect.”

Dr. Cheng furthered: “Under the current policy of Hong Kong SAR Government together with the National 14th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong has been positioned as an international innovation and technology hub. Furthermore, Hong Kong will also proactively promote the development of technology and innovation industries in the northern metropolitan area, and is committed to promoting the integration and exchange of I&T industries between Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, offering more development opportunities for local ICT professionals. As businesses accelerate their digital transformation, it is believed that ICT professionals will have even more opportunities for development. Thus, I encourage young people to pursue careers in the ICT industry and take relevant courses in college. On the other hand, the Government should also actively train more talent, not only in traditional ICT disciplines, but also in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, FinTech, Cybersecurity, and Emerging Technologies, to meet the long-term development needs."

HKCS started the questionnaire survey among corporate members in the first quarter this year and collected 90 responses including large public and private organisations. Over 85% of interviewed companies are hiring more than 100 employees, in which over 60% are hiring over 400 staff. Among the responses, 46.67% of them have over 100 ICT related staff. HKCS believes that the results are highly representative.

Based on the survey findings, over 77.78% of ICT employees will enjoy a salary rise this year. The average growth will over 4% for over 55% of companies.

Reviewing the Year of 2023, over 85% of ICT employees enjoyed a salary rise. The average growth was over 4% for over 60% of companies. 44.30% of interviewed companies offered an increase rate at 4-6%, and 7.60% even for over 10% of them.

Among the surveyed companies, half of them hired fresh ICT graduates in 2023. Closed to 80% of hiring companies offered a starting salary higher than HK$18,000, while 35.56% of them offered over HK$22,000 to attract new talents.

As a whole, the survey also revealed that the starting salary of ICT staff was increasing. 68.89% of companies increased their starting salary for fresh graduates, while 48.89% of them offer over 4% in compare with previous year.

Dr. Cheng said, “in order to reflect that ICT is an ideal career for youngsters, HKCS collected data for the salary growth after working in the industry for 3 years and 5 years in the survey.

The results showed that over 55% of ICT professionals would enjoy a salary rise of over 10% for working in the field for 3 years, while 60% of ICT professionals would get over 20% of salary growth after 5 years working, and closed to 20% even for over 50% of them. It reflects that the salary growth of the industry has been quite ideal.”

Dr. Cheng pointed out: “Despite 15% of companies cut ICT headcount, there was no massive layoff in the industry after the epidemic in 2023. Instead, over 55% of the respondents confirmed an increase in headcount, of which 23.53% of the respondents had over 10% increased. Apart from that, 27.77% of the respondents froze their headcount.”

Dr. Cheng furthered: “According to the survey results, ICT fresh graduates and other ICT professionals both received a pay rise in 2023, and the positive growth rate will continue this year, which is quite good considering current labor market in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, 50% of respondents hired ICT fresh graduates last year and 70% of companies will offer internship position for ICT undergraduates this year. With the uncertain prospects of the global economy, the demand for ICT talents remains strong and companies are willing to allocate more resources to ICT, which suggests further room for development of the ICT industry.”