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Msians enjoy greater salaries, opportunities

By Vivian Yeo, ZDNet Asia

Thursday, June 05, 2008 11:43 AM

Opportunities still abound for IT professionals in

Malaysia, but higher expectations from jobseekers

could affect the countrys competitive edge over the

longer term.

Malaysias ICT job market has been buoyant, with brisk demand

for both experienced jobseekers and fresh graduates.

IT companies have also been actively investing in Malaysia.

Chipmaker Intels investment arm, for instance, recently forked

out 50 million ringgit (US$15.4 million) in Malaysias Packet One

Networks for the rollout of WiMax technology.

Malaysia is said to hold tremendous opportunities for software

vendor Epicor, while PC maker Dell has always considered the

country--and the Penang state, in particular--strategic to its

business.

According to the ZDNet Asia IT Salary Benchmark Survey 2008,

salaries of IT professionals are commensurate with the strong

market outlook in Malaysia. Close to 2,900 IT professionals from

a range of industry sectors, job types and organization sizes

were surveyed this year--a signicant increase over the 535

respondents for 2007.

Based on the survey ndings, the average IT salary in Malaysia

was 72,144 ringgit (US$22,379), with those in IT management

commanding a high of 113,489 ringgit (US$35,204). Project

managers on average drew an annual pay of 73,912 ringgit

(US$22,928), while systems developers earned 56,393 ringgit

(US$17,493).

Tech professionals in the legal and nance sector had the most

attractive annual salary (US$25,188) followed by those in IT,

Web and telecom (US$22,939). The annual salary for IT workers

in the media, marketing and sales (US$17,444), as well as the

government, education and health sector (US$20,037), were

signicantly below the industry average.

Compared with the rest of the region, Malaysias average annual IT

salary lagged behind that of Hong Kong (US$57,303), Singapore

(US$44,858) and Thailand (US$24,108). The country, however, is

signicantly higher when compared to India (US$13,864), the

Philippines (US$12,425) and Indonesia (US$7,709).

Stella Thevarakam, regional HR director at ISS Consulting, told

ZDNet Asia that salaries are higher by about 20 percent this year.

ISS Consulting is a Malaysia-based management and technology

consulting rm that specializes in the implementation of SAP and

SAP related products.

The rise in salaries can be attributed to more tech professionals

having certication as well as more companies tapping onto the

common talent pool, she explained.

Thevarakam added: Total packages are also becoming more

expensive--people are looking for better insurance coverage

which includes their families, more annual leave, and other

benets. All this adds very much to hiring costs, which gives

way now to hiring contractors whereby the costs are less [due to

fewer] benets and lower salaries.

While higher salaries are welcome, the downside is that Malaysian

candidates can be too focused on salaries. Thevarakam noted that

even though jobseekers have signed offers, they will not hesitate

to change their minds if they receive another offer that promises

higher salaries.

They will leave and run for the next company that offers 10

percent more, she said. They also take [the employers] offer

letters and bargain with other companies for higher stay-on or

[starting] salaries.

I have recruiting experience in Thailand and the Philippines, and

I dont see this happening too much there, especially Thailand,

Thevarakam added, noting that if the employment situation

persists, Malaysia would not be the competitive place to set up

IT businesses.

There is also pressure on smaller companies to offer higher

remuneration and provide better training programs to attract

talent, as fresh graduates are more particular about their job

choice and look to join established companies.

IBM Malaysias HR director Chai Cheng Sheng pointed out last

month that fresh graduates lack strong communication skills, and

are not attuned to current market and business trends.

Attitude, not certifcation, drive salaries

According to the ZDNet Asia survey, IT skills most commonly

possessed by Malaysian tech professionals were in application

development, desktop/software, and operating systems. Slightly

over half of the respondents were equipped with application

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development skills, and about 40 percent had desktop/software

skills.

Nearly four in 10 of those surveyed owned at least one professional

certication. The most commonly held ones were the Microsoft

Certied Professional, Cisco Certied Network Associate and

Microsoft Certied Systems Engineer.

While IT professionals in the country are increasingly concerned

about being certied in their areas of expertise, Thevarakam said,

having relevant certication alone would not necessarily guarantee

higher pay. In fact, a candidate with relevant certication may notproduce quality work, she said.

People have become so package orientated that it is now

becoming difcult to nd the right attitude with the right

package, Thevarakam explained. In the near future, I believe the

right attitude will earn more salaries than certs and experience. It

is already happening in many companies these days.

IT Salary Benchmark Survey 2008

ZDNet Asia conducted an online survey between late-2007 and

early-2008 to gain insights into Asias IT workforce and salary

trends. It drew 21,635 respondents from sectors such as government,

healthcare, IT, services, telecommunications, legal and fnance,

and across seven Asian economies: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Some 2,890 respondents were polled in Malaysia, about 60 percent

of whom were in project management and systems development

roles.

Note: In the following charts, MYR denotes the Malaysian

ringgit.

2

Average Annual Salary by Industry

Job Function

Industry

GovernmentEducation and

Health

IT, Web &Telecom

Legal andFinance

Media,Marketing andSales (non-IT)

Manufacturing,Services and

Others (non-IT)Combined

IT Management

Projectmanagement

SystemsDevelopment

Communications

Support

Other ITProfessionals

Overall

MYR 83,571

MYR 66,831

MYR 57,589

MYR 57,009

MYR 44,341

MYR 64,434

MYR 64,595

MYR 128,364

MYR 76,402

MYR 56,834

MYR 69,295

MYR 56,187

MYR 86,822

MYR 73,950

MYR 120,870

MYR 73,094

MYR 65,272

MYR 58,435

MYR 36,235

MYR 105,231

MYR 81,199

MYR 94,183

MYR 38,384

MYR 47,602

MYR 25,254

MYR 37,839

MYR 53,976

MYR 56,236

MYR 97,950

MYR 72,581

MYR 52,515

MYR 63,824

MYR 53,229

MYR 73,806

MYR 68,927

MYR 113,489

MYR 73,912

MYR 56,393

MYR 66,190

MYR 52,359

MYR 82,258

MYR 72,144

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Average Annual Salary of the Top Five IT Skills

%of Respondents IT Skills Average Annual Salary

51.0%

40.8%

39.1%

38.3%

36.1%

Application Development

Desktops/ Software

Operating Systems

Servers/ Networking

System Administration

MYR 75,930

MYR 68,906

MYR 70,422

MYR 70,008

MYR 72,246

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Average Annual Salary by Job Function and Employment Status

Job Function

Employment Status

Contract Full-time Combined

IT Management

Project management

Systems Development

Communications

Support

Other IT Professionals

Overall

MYR 157,146

MYR 81,409

MYR 49,630

MYR 81,691

MYR 46,120

MYR 46,341

MYR 72,341

MYR 111,948

MYR 73,305

MYR 56,855

MYR 64,871

MYR 52,750

MYR 84,159

MYR 72,131

MYR 113,489

MYR 73,912

MYR 56,393

MYR 66,190

MYR 52,359

MYR 82,258

MYR 72,144

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