^{Dr Sean Seah PIKOM Chairman and Mr Woon Tai Hai Chair of Research Committee.}


PETALING JAYA, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- Digital professionals in Malaysia can expect to earn more now that the economy has reopened fully and digital adoption has increased markedly in response to pandemic restrictions over the previous two years.
 
The National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM), in its annual Digital Job Market Outlook 2022, noted that demand for digital talents is spiking with employment agency JobStreet by SEEK recording almost the same number of job postings in the first half of 2022 (99,583) against the whole of 2021 (106,275).
 
In tandem, PIKOM also pointed out that salaries offered to digital professionals are trending upwards after remaining almost stagnant during the pandemic years. On an average, monthly salaries are expected to rise by 4.5% next year from a historically-low growth rate of 2.2% in 2020.
 
The report, published in collaboration with JobStreet, the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), was unveiled by PIKOM Chairman Dr Sean Seah today.
 
“This publication, the 14^th edition, has been an essential platform and beacon for industry players, policy makers and digital talents to navigate opportunities and challenges in the talent salary market,” said Dr Seah.
 
He also revealed that this year’s edition covered a broader scope by incorporating the salary ranges of digital professionals in economies from every continent, which include some of the most attractive markets for digital employment.
 
Elaborating on the report’s findings, PIKOM Research Committee Chair Mr Woon Tai Hai attributed the growing demand and rising salaries for digital talents to the pivot by society, business, industry and government towards digital technologies during the height of Covid-19.
 
“The shift towards digital tools and platforms led to a boom in eCommerce, the gig economy, remote working and online interaction. In turn, this has created new opportunities in fintech, software, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) and data science, among others,” said Mr Woon.
  
In this regard, Mr Woon and the tech association observed that jobs in cybersecurity were offering relatively high returns in comparison with other digital clusters. On the other hand, remuneration for positions in AI and data science was comparatively low owing most likely to a lack of expertise and experience among Malaysian talents.
 
Although the digital job market may be buoyant going forward, Mr Woon also expressed concern over the continuing brain drain of local talents seeking more attractive digital job prospects overseas.
 
As outlined in the report, Malaysia has fallen behind Thailand in terms of salaries for digital professionals apart from economies in the Middle East as well as other developed nations in Asia and the West.
 
The additional section of the report benchmarks the salaries of 61 digital jobs from 21 economies worldwide.
 
“With the focus expanded to other economies, this report is not only timely, but will also come in useful to delegates of the World Congress on Innovation and Technology (WCIT) 2022 organised by PIKOM and to held in Penang on 13-15 September,” concluded Dr Seah.


SOURCE : PIKOM

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name : Nor Azlina Ishak
General Manager, Industry Affairs
Tel : 012 3328888
Email : azlina@pikom.org.my

--BERNAMA