ITP Techblog

With a major pipeline of tech projects and net migration still in negative territory, demand for tech and digital salaries remains strong, according to data from global recruitment company, Talent.

Tech salaries and contract rates increased 15 - 20% globally on average, according to Talent, despite a slowing market and challenging macroeconomic conditions.

Talent’s New Zealand Country Manager, Kara Smith, Country Manager, Talent New Zealand, says some unique factors mean recruitment has seen a slow start to the year. locally

“With borders finally and fully open in New Zealand, we have seen a significant increase in the amount of annual leave taken during these past holidays as people connect with friends and families overseas,” she says.

“A knock-on effect from this, and a double whammy from the recent floods in Auckland, has seen a quieter opening to the 2023 market than we would normally experience. However, we expect this to be short-lived due to the continued impact of inflation, increased household mortgages, our negative migration, and the overall tech skills crisis.”

Cyber on top

The most in-demand skillsets include cybersecurity, with salaries seeing average growth of 20% in the last year, with data analytics, cloud infrastructure also experiencing contract rate growth of 15 - 20%, says Talent.

The move to remote working spurred by the pandemic has become an expectation for tech workers with 95% preferring “either a fully remote or hybrid model of working”. The fastest-growing skillsets in 2023 will be: cybersecurity, data analysis, Microsoft Azure and the Python programming language, according to LinkedIn Talent Insights.

While there are clear areas of opportunity for tech workers to fill roles in high-demand areas, Talent has some career advice: “In this changing market, adaptability and a problem-solving mindset are key,” Talent points out.

“A great job is about more than a paycheque. Consider the culture and values-fit of an employer before accepting a role,” it adds.

Source: Talent More Than Money Salary Guide 2023

Trends in tech hot-spots

AUCKLAND: Talent’s New Zealand Country Manager Kara Smith on tech recruiting trends in Auckland:

It was a strong finish to 2022 with record hiring happening across Auckland. The good news for our job seekers is that we believe we will continue seeing that in 2023.

According to Stats NZ, the number of migrant arrivals as of September 2022 was less than migrant departures. We have seen 11 consecutive months of net migration losses of New Zealand citizens. Bearing this in mind and as per the sentiment last year, with the lack of overseas talent coming into New Zealand, we believe the market will remain highly competitive.

Although there are skill and talent shortages across the board, the market is fiercely competitive for engineers/analysts and BI developers. Business Analysis saw a surge late last year as companies plan for 2023.

2022 saw many candidates move away from permanent opportunities to contracting. Whether this trend continues in 2023 we will have to see.

We expect the 1st quarter of 2023 to be dynamic as people come back to work with renewed career aspirations and goals. However, with a good chunk of mortgage holders being impacted with higher rates and the anticipation of a recession, we expect candidates to make decisions more cautiously than the last 12 months.

This could work in businesses' favour if they have competitive pay, strong benefits, an ESG strategy and a focus on DEIB & EVP. It’s not about what the employee can do for the employer but more so what the employer can do for the employee. Our advice to businesses continues to be to do everything reasonably possible to retain your team members. Build that supportive culture and nurture those career aspirations.

WELLINGTON: Talent’s Wellington Managing Director, Nik King-Turner on the tech talent scene in the capital:

The Wellington market shifted towards the end of last year from being candidate tight to being more balanced. It’s started with a “hiss and a roar” for 2023. Candidates were in the power position mid last year with multiple offers and choice, but now it seems we have a nice healthy balance of both candidates and vacancies.

There are plenty of roles available, surprisingly these are mainly contract roles, with a lot of motivation to hire ASAP.  

With the election looming in October, and a more than likely change of government, businesses are wanting to get recruitment sorted within the first two quarters. If National do get in, they are not a headcount government, so expect to see (especially in the public sector) fewer permanent roles. However, clients will still need to get delivery done so some will resort to hiring contractors. Since there was a lot of spend on contractors in COVID over the past two years however, things could get very tight.

Candidates are frequently asking the question about remote working, but more are leaning towards flexible/hybrid working – as opposed to exclusively work from home.  They’re more inclined to come into the office if the culture is a good one and if it’s a nice space to work from.  They’re also tending to lean towards companies who do have a social impact, candidates are looking at roles through a social lens.

More and more businesses are working towards bringing their teams back into the offices and are usually driving a Leader Lead type practice.  For the organisations that had a 100% work from home policy this is hard to implement but is a must to retain culture. People-first is still a big driver for lots of companies, with a focus on output and delivery being key. Businesses hoping to attract talent are becoming more aware that they need to sell their EVP more now than ever.

Access Talent’s More Than Money Salary Guide 2023.