Tech Salaries Continue To Steady Out As Businesses Remain Cautious With Rising Costs Of Living & Inflation

The hiring market is experiencing significant change fluctuating between a frenzied candidate-short market and a more cautious employer-driven market according to Talent’s ‘More Than Money Salary Guide 2024’ which was released today. Tech and digital salaries continue to steady out but remain strong for key skillsets such as cybersecurity and AI. The report features key salaries, roles and skills that are in demand for the New Zealand market. Please find the report HERE.

The report features salaries and contract rates for key tech positions in 2024, the most in-demand tech skills for 2024, market insights from Talent’s Managing Director team and experienced recruiters, as well as hiring trends and predictions across the regions in which Talent operates across ANZ and the US. Further insights include stats on the local tech talent pool, skills trends, stats on the cost of living across multiple cities, the needs of different generations in the workforce, and the benefits beyond salary that candidates are looking for including observations on the debate around flexible working arrangements.

Key findings include:

• Salaries have increased by up to 35% across Cybersecurity, Sales & Account Services, Data Analytics, and Development roles since 2023.
• Contract rates have grown between 10-30% since 2023 for roles in Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, Cloud Solutions and Infrastructure.
• Looking at Talent’s hiring data from October 2022 to October 2023, federal and state government layoffs and hiring freezes across Australia have resulted in a 16% decline in contract hiring in this sector.
• Large companies have increased their offshoring by an estimated 10-40%.
• Demand for Project Services talent has decreased as many companies have paused their large-scale projects to save on costs.
• A Talent poll revealed that work flexibility beats out a competitive salary when it comes to what matters most to candidates when looking for a job – 35% noted flexibility as the most important, followed by 29% citing salary.
• A Talent poll revealed that 78% of workers value remote work the most when it comes to the flexible work arrangements that best align with their preferences, followed by 16% who value flexible hours, 6% compressed work weeks, and 1% job-sharing arrangements.

Demand remains high for the following skills:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Cybersecurity
• Data Analysis
• Cloud Computing
• Software Development

Top salaries for 2024 vs 2023 are as follows:

*Excluding C-Suite roles. Permanent salaries are exclusive of superannuation.

Kara Smith, Country Manager, Talent New Zealand, weighed in on what the market is experiencing with flexible work, “2023 was very dynamic in NZ leading to a significantly disrupted employment market. We learned through COVID that projects and growth can only be stalled for so long and with that in mind, I’m cautiously optimistic that the 2024 New Zealand market will rebound, and that the employment market will experience more sustainable growth. When we break it down between businesses and candidates, candidates are wanting stability, long contracts for those that are contractors and a feeling of safety within a business and on a project. While there will be increased pressure on leaders to do more with less from their team members and from their C-Suite. They’ll need to hold together teams culturally whilst balancing hybrid teams and reduced expenditure.”

Nik King-Turner, Wellington Managing Director, Talent, discussed what the market has experienced, “Coming off a candidate driven market over the last 18 months to two years where there was a lot of choice and more opportunity, we are now seeing a swing to a lower volume of roles and more applications. This time of year, always start to slow down for recruitment but it is enhanced by the other factors so can be a stressful time for job seekers. The change of Government late last year has also had an impact with the changing of key policies, promises of Contractor/Consultant cuts and Ministry restructures in play.”

The global technology market is evolving and growing. As a $5 trillion global industry, it has significant power in both providing opportunity to the workforce as well as rapidly disrupting the international work landscape. A sense of caution remains prevalent in the hiring market, with a number of job families experiencing slowed demand as a result of company cost cuts. This has seen an increase in layoffs, hiring freezes, and projects placed on pause across the market. However, despite a slow in hiring, there are several jobs where demand and salaries have remained high.

* Figures are based on data provided to Talent from our clients, with additional sources cited.

About Talent

Talent is a global technology and digital services business providing technology contractors and permanent recruitment, tech project delivery and support services, and designing and building embedded talent acquisition functions.

Over the past 10 years Talent has achieved record growth increasing footprint to 6 countries and generating north of $1B in annual revenue.

Talent is a purpose driven organisation with its vision and mission at the core. We bring real value to people and organisations by building highly skilled and engaged teams, rethinking technology solutions and taking a people first approach to how we innovate our services. We are specialists committed to creating the most rewarding experiences for our customers, clients, colleagues, and the community.

Our values guide everything we do. Lead the way - strive for better - give a damn.

We are determined to build a better world of work and give back to our communities through our charitable foundation, Talent RISE, aiming to improve the lives of everyone we work with. We want to create a true sense of belonging for all.

READ TALENT’S 2024 ‘MORE THAN MONEY SALARY GUIDE’ HERE

© Scoop Media