2016 has seen the Singapore market overwhelmed with news of redundancies and job cuts - with analysts continue to warn of weakening economic conditions and uncertainty on the horizon.
Although companies are still facing tough hiring restrictions and cost-cutting pressures, they are also in the midst of technological disruption and must drive new digital strategies to ensure their businesses remain competitive and relevant. Organisations are now increasingly turning to contracting as a creative and alternative workforce solution to overcome headcount limitations, and ensure they have the right talent in place to support their key technology-related projects and business operations.
Contracting also continues to grow across the IT market as a result of companies upgrading and scaling up their IT systems. IT companies offering managed services in particular are actively hiring contractors to help their clients with migration across various systems (e.g. virtualisation, Windows upgrades and cloud infrastructure).
Here’s a preview of some of the most sought-after contracting technology talent and their salary trends below:
1. systems engineering
To implement the rollout from physical to virtual migrations. Steep demand for VMware consultants, cloud architects and migration engineers across various industries.
skills needed
- VMware
- Windows
- Cloud
salary range
S$6,000 to S$9,000 monthly
2. network engineering
High demand for network engineers in Singapore due to scaling up of companies’ existing network systems.
skills needed
- Network security
- Network (WAN/LAN)
- Vulnerability assessment
- .CCNP
- CCIE-certified
salary range
S$7,000 to S$10,000 monthly
3. desktop and helpdesk support
Strong demand for desktop/helpdesk engineers from IT vendors that are helping companies to migrate and upgrade their systems. Most of the end users are using outsourced engineers to manage their helpdesk function.
skills needed
- Desktop
- Helpdesk skill with any ticketing tool knowledge
salary range
S$3,000 to S$4,000 monthly
4. data centre
Data centres continues to grow in Singapore due to its safe and strategic location. Most of the contract work comes from data centre hosting companies which are looking to hire more contract manpower to cope with the surge in demand and expansion of businesses.
skills needed
- CDCP certification
- UNIX scripting
- MCSE
salary range
S$4,000 to S$6,000 monthly
5. project management
Many IT organisations are contracting technical project managers and senior coordinators to help manage their clients’ key IT projects. You can expect to be a part of large-scale projects, particularly in companies that are involved in project transition, migration to a new technology or platform.
skills needed
- PMP
- Prince 2 certification
- Agile experience
salary range
S$7,000 to S$14,000 monthly
to find out more about the most sought-after talent, salary trends and contract roles in IT, download our 10 most in-demand technology jobs report.
If finding exceptional talent for your business is a key challenge or if you want to take your professional career to the next level, please get in touch with us.