Demand from employers in Hong Kong for skilled Southeast Asia tech talent is expected to rise amid a talent shortage and brain drain in the tech sector, according to research from Glints.

The forecast comes as the Hong Kong government recently announced its plan to ‘trawl for talent’ globally to attract talent back to the country.

“We are seeing an increasing demand from Hong Kong-based employers for talent from Southeast Asia,” said Puay Lim Yeo, Managing Director of Glints. “These employers are becoming more adaptable in building high-performing teams by hiring skilled talent from markets like Indonesia and Vietnam. By expanding their search beyond a hypercompetitive and costly local market, these employers can tap into a deep pool of skilled tech and tech-adjacent talent in a cost-efficient way.”

The research also noted that there are cost advantages for Hong Kong-based employers hiring for Southeast Asia tech talent. In addition to that, the report also finds that salary expectations for talent are to become more manageable in 2023 compared to previous years, where there was more competition for talent and higher salary inflation. The growth rate will be much lower than in previous years for tech salaries, from upwards of 30% to 10-20% per year.

Glints conducted salary research in Hong Kong compared to various markets in Southeast Asia and found cost advantages to hiring skilled tech and tech-adjacent talent in Southeast Asia. for tech and tech-adjacent roles.

The findings showed median salaries for tech roles such as engineering, product and data are 2.5 times higher in Hong Kong than in Southeast Asia. Median salaries for business development roles are 3 times higher in Hong Kong compared to Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, median salaries for senior software engineers with 5-10 years of experience are 3 times higher in Hong Kong compared to Indonesia and the Philippines and 1.8 times higher than in Vietnam. At the same time, median salaries for product manager roles are 2-3 times higher in Hong Kong than in Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.