Policies laid out in 2016 address to boost talent demands

Industry-wide salary increases also expected.

Randstad Hong Kong has responded to the policies laid out in the recent Policy Address, and notes that it anticipates soaring talent demands and salary rises across industries.

According to a release from Randstad, Mr Michael Smith, Managing Director of Randstad Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, believes these policies will drive talent demand in the Innovation and Technology; Construction, Property and Engineering; Banking & Finance industries.

For instance, on Innovation and Technology development, the release noted that, supported by the government’s $2 billion Innovation and Technology Venture Fund and other initiatives such as the “WiFi City” plan, Mr Smith expects an increase in demand for talent as the industry benefits from the policies and continues to grow. Mr Smith anticipates the following developments in the industry.

Here's more from Randstad:

Severe talent shortage in telecommunication. In 2015, our telecommunication clients expressed a 30 per cent decrease in IT fresh graduates compared to the previous year. Now, coupled with the city’s roadmap to become a “WiFi City”, the demand for talent in telecommunication is higher than ever, such as 4G network engineers.

Front- and back-end web developers. e-Commerce, a strong voice in the start-up scene, will continue to drive demand in IT talent, especially those with experience in building mobile applications in Hong Kong and mainland markets.

Data scientists. We will continue to see a rise in demand for data scientists who are able to interpret and analyse data which can be used to increase customer loyalty, unlock hidden productivity and increase client retention.

Coding specialists. We expect a stark increase in demand for coding specialists, where employees can expect a salary increase of 3 to 7 per cent this year, and bonuses of up to 25 per cent of their annual salary. Pay rise. IT talent looking to jump ship can expect a 10 to 20 per cent pay rise.

Emergence of specialist IT sales managers. There will be a rising demand for IT sales managers who are able to sell “super computers” with artificial intelligence as a business solution. Demand for fresh graduates. Roles in basic IT functions, especially infrastructure and creative developers, will see the greatest demand for fresh graduates.The need for IT project managers will continue to grow with the rise of the innovative start-up scene.

Slower demand for ERP specialists. Due to the decrease in enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects, there will be a slowdown in the demand for this type of expertise. In-demand skill sets. Candidates need to ensure that their hard skills, including statistical analysis, data mining, programming and coding, remain relevant. They also need to have strong soft skills which include problem solving, the ability to obtain and process information and prioritise workloads.

On increasing Housing Supply and Infrastructure: The Government will supply about 97,100 public housing units over the next five years, so the demand for construction, property and engineering talents is set to soar. Mr Smith anticipates the following developments in the industry.

There will be a strong demand for project managers who command solid communication, language and technical skills. Strong backgrounds in architecture and experience in project management in China will be key advantages. Developers in the private sector will be looking for an increasing number of property managers as their development projects are nearing completion.

Infrastructure and railway projects such as Kwun Tong Line Extension and the South Island Line (East) will seek a vast number of qualified engineers with civil and mechanical backgrounds. An increasing number of Hong Kong companies will be hiring from overseas on local packages.

On strengthening Hong Kong’s financial centre status: As the Government continues to strengthen Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s financial centre, Mr Smith expects the following developments in the industry. The Mutual Recognition Fund scheme will drive talent demand for fund management, especially those with experience in China. These talents can expect an average of 20 to 25 per cent increase compared to 2014. Talents that change employers can benefit from over 30 per cent of salary increase.