Most technology hiring managers (76%) found recruitment ‘very’ or ‘quite’ competitive across Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, according to research from Morgan McKinley.

The research also identified key challenges and showed that 25% of hiring managers cited a shortage of skilled candidates as their primary obstacle. Other challenges included difficulties in competing on pay and benefits (22%) and a lack of approval for new headcount (19%).

Despite the challenging market, the research pointed to an optimistic 2024 with half of technology hiring managers revealing that they are increasing headcount in the first half of the year and 46% of technology workers are looking for new roles in that same period, with a further 31% considering a move.

When looking to move roles, technology workers value a higher salary (40%) the most, followed by career growth and development opportunities (14%), and ability to work fully remote (13%).

Meanwhile, flexibility continues to be important in the technology industry, with work from home and flexible working hours placing first and third respectively in tech professionals’ top five valued benefits - alongside bonus (second), health insurance (fourth) and pension (fifth). Technology had the greatest proportion of people who placed 'work from home' as one of their most valued benefits out of all 10 specialisations surveyed (71% of technology professionals picked it in their top five).

Nearly half, of technology professionals (42%) would prefer to be in the office 1-2 days a week, while only 8% want to be on-site five days a week. Over half (53%) would skip a pay rise if it meant they got the flexibility they desire. At the same time, 69% of employers expect their salary offers to increase for certain hard-to-fill roles across technology, and a further 20% plan to increase salary offers for all tech teams.

Lionel Kaidatzis, managing director of Morgan McKinley Japan, said, “The technology talent landscape in Japan was highly competitive throughout 2023, making it difficult for businesses to find skilled professionals. With less headcount, companies have raised the bar on the quality of the talent they want to hire, which has made the hiring of top talent even more competitive given the ongoing shortage of talent. With skilled professionals receiving multiple offers, employers have had to shorten their time to release offers in an effort to entice top candidates. Even a few days of delay could be the difference between hiring talent and losing out to competitors.”

“Despite a concerted effort to drive the digital transformation agenda forward, Japan still ranks low compared to ‘competitor’ countries in digital competitiveness due to a shortage of software engineers. Organisations can improve the choice of skills available and gain access to experience with cutting-edge technologies if they look at non-Japanese speaking overseas-based professionals.”

Gurj Sandhu, managing director of Morgan McKinley Singapore, said, “Global layoffs by tech giants, rising inflation and general economic uncertainty all heaped pressure on the heavily invested-in tech sector throughout 2023. But there is now definitely a silver lining; hiring activity picked up in Q3 and paints a positive picture for 2024. Many businesses have projects pipelined and a strong book of work and will need the right talent to successfully see them through 2024 and beyond.”

Rob Sheffield, managing director of Morgan McKinley Hong Kong & China, said, “The high demand for technology professionals in Hong Kong remains consistent. The main difference in 2023 was the slower pace, processes took longer due to clients being selective and interviewing multiple candidates before committing to an offer. There is a distinct lack of junior-level technology professionals; it is likely that there will be turnover at this level of hiring for 2024.”

“The demand for experienced contractors and outcome-based consulting has increased noticeably in Hong Kong. The need to support business-critical programmes and time-sensitive roles is driving this demand,” Sheffield said.