Matthew Munson (main photo), the managing director of Talent, a global technology and digital recruitment agency sat down with B&T, to give us the skinny on why tech salaries are booming in Australia.
Of course, everyone’s heard about tech salaries skyrocketing in Australia but how has it happened? Yes, there’s the obvious pandemic but surely working from home in the tech world wouldn’t be that disruptive? But it’s the chain effect that has changed everything.
Munson contributes the surge to a combination of things, “It’s been a perfect storm! The pre-existing skill shortage in technology has been exacerbated by closed borders that have cut off the supply of overseas talent. Both from experienced tech workers and at the junior end as no working holiday visas/students.
“Then global outsourcing has collapsed a working from home in countries such as India & the Philippines is very unreliable as people there do not have stable internet connections. As a result, a huge number of roles had to be in-sourced back to ANZ.
“Then there’s the fact that consumers are rapidly switching to buying digital, it resulted in lots of companies quickly playing catch up on their digital platforms, all competing for the same talent.
“Also working from home meant that companies’ IT infrastructure and cyber security were put under huge pressure, which also resulted in having to ramp up their support, storage, cloud, cyber teams significantly,” Munson explained.
So why is there such a shortage of talent in Australia to begin with? Munson told B&T: “Technology is not a popular subject in schools and universities.
“Much more needs to be done to promote and set up our education system, not only to develop technical skills but also to promote innovation and start-ups.
“Other countries such as UK, Germany, Israel are way ahead of us – in those countries working in tech is now seen as being cool and interesting.”
Basically, tech companies are desperately trying to hold onto staff and salaries are currently reflecting that.
For instance, Munson recently heard of a role for, “a mid-level JavaScript developer, the salary was $200k plus super, that role would have paid around $100k a year earlier.”
And then beyond throwing cash as people, Munson has noticed a growing trend in tech companies working to become incredibly desirable to employees, “Workplace flexibility, work from anywhere policies, improving maternity & paternity leave, more time off and other benefits.”
And where would Munson work in Tech, well, “If I was a candidate searching for a new role I’d be looking at companies who have a strong EVP, live to their values and have a big focus around DE&I and their ESG strategy.
“Doing a bit of research around what current employees are saying on their LinkedIn could be a great first start.
“A big one that we have found when hiring is how businesses have handled the COVID situation. How did they support their teams? What did they put into action? And from that what are they keeping in place? All questions I would be asking when sitting across from someone in an interview.
“You’ll find there is a heap of companies who are doing all of these things brilliantly. It’s all about doing that research and finding out what works for you.”
But, if you just want to know if you can earn heaps of money tech, well the answer is a resounding yes, “It is definitely one of the best avenues.
“It is possible to earn over 150k in your early 20s with no formal training or qualifications, working from anywhere, with no sales involved – I cannot think of another sector where that is possible!”
