The ICT job market in Malaysia in 2017 showed improvement in salary growth and higher number of jobs compared to 2016. The overall average monthly salary of ICT Professionals grew to RM8,908 in 2017, a 5 per cent growth from RM8,484 in 2016. This was a better growth compared to 4.6 per cent in 2016.

The number of advertised jobs of ICT Professionals also jumped by 35 percent to 15,197 in 2017 compared with 11, 227 in 2016. Senior Executive Level attracted the most number of jobs at 7,118 among the five job categories. These were among the many findings in the 11th edition of PIKOM ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia 2018 launched today.

Salaries for highly-skilled talent in Malaysia are projected to soar to a total annual premium of RM10.08 billion (USD2.52 billion) by 2030, driven by a potential shortage of 94,000 highly-skilled employees, according to a new study by Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY). Wage premiums are amounts employers could be forced to pay employees, over and above normal inflation increases.

Korn Ferry’s Salary Surge study estimates that annual wage premiums for highly-skilled talent in the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services sector in Malaysia will total RM1.896 billion (USD474 million) by 2030; while the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) sector’s total is expected to reach RM744 million (USD186 million). The country’s Manufacturing sector meanwhile could see annual wage premiums totalling RM540 million (USD135 million).

According to the World Bank Group, 18.9% of private sector businesses in Malaysia experienced electrical outages from March 2015 to May 2016. With the average duration of a typical electrical outage at 3.8 hours, more than 10% of businesses had backup power in the form of generators.

The study also showed that businesses that utilized generators used them regularly, with over 20% of the electrical power consumed by these businesses, supplied by these generators.