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ICT JOB MARKETOUTLOOK IN MALAYSIA

JUNE, 2017

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ISSN No: 2180-267XRelease date: June, 2017

DisclaimerThis publication contains findings based on data provided by JobStreet.com Sdn Bhd (449122-K) with PIKOM collaboratively carrying out the data analysis. Although a professional effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of data analysis and presentation, all information furnished in this publication is provided strictly on an ‘as is’ and ‘as available’ basis and is so provided for your information and reference only. With this caution, kindly be informed that this release is not presented to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. As such, JobStreet.com and PIKOM including their sponsors, partners and associates, whether named or unnamed, do not warrant the accuracy or adequacy of the data and findings. Moreover, all parties concerned explicitly disclaim any liability for errors or omissions or inaccuracies pertaining to the contents of this publication. Therefore, the use of data and findings presented in this publication is solely at the user’s risk. PIKOM and JobStreet.com shall in no event be liable for damages, loss or expense including without limitation, direct, incidental, special, or consequential damage or economic loss arising from or in connection with the data and / or findings published in this series. However, professional advice can be sought from the producers of this publication.

ICT JOB MARKET OUTLOOK IN MALAYSIA | JUNE, 20174

FOREWORD BY THE PIKOM CHAIRMAN- CHIN CHEE SEONG

I am pleased to announce the release of the PIKOM ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia 2017 report. The National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) began tracking the salaries of ICT professionals back in 2007. In that year, the ICT contribution to the GDP (ICT-GDP) was RM40 billion and the average monthly salary was RM4,446. This year, the ICT-GDP is projected to be more than four times that figure. The average monthly salary of ICT professionals in 2017 is also projected to be more than double the monthly average salary recorded in 2007.

The tremendous growth of the ICT-GDP and the steady growth in average monthly salary of ICT professionals in the past 10 years clearly signify the importance of the industry to the country, economically and socially. Human capital is a valuable component of the industry and this report serves as a guide for decision makers in different industries on the estimated salaries that ICT professionals can expect, ranging from entry to the top level.

We are aware that the economic challenges we faced in 2015 continued into 2016, leading to the dip in GDP growth from 5.0% in 2015 to 4.2% in 2016. At the same time, the Ringgit also depreciated by 4.3% and ended 2016 at RM4.486 against the US dollar.

In this year’s report, we indicated that the average monthly salary of ICT professionals in 2016 grew by 4.6%, the lowest growth since we first published this annual report ten years ago. The hardest hit were entry level professionals, who only enjoyed a lower-than-expected 3.7% increase in average monthly salary.

However, PIKOM expects a better growth rate for 2017 as we can take heart from the better-than-expected economic performance during the first quarter of 2017. We can expect the economy to recover this year. Recently, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announced that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Malaysia grew by 5.6% year-on-year for the first quarter of 2017. Most of the economic sectors also showed positive growth during this period.

This year, we have already witnessed many ICT developments that will have significant impact on the growth and success of the industry. The main news-making headline was the launch of the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ), which will be a boom for eCommerce. The DFTZ will also facilitate SMEs to capitalise on the convergence of exponential growth of the internet economy and cross-border eCommerce activities.

PIKOM is supportive of this initiative including the strategic partnership with Alibaba as more than half of our members are SMEs. The DFTZ is expected to be a smooth gateway for them to reach out to customers beyond Malaysian borders. With this, we can expect cross-border trade to flourish and provide SMEs with opportunities to expand their businesses within the region and beyond. This initiative will also complement PIKOM’s newly launched eCommerce chapter, aimed at supporting the fast growing eCommerce market.

ICT JOB MARKET OUTLOOK IN MALAYSIA | JUNE, 2017 5

In the PIKOM ICT Strategic Review 2016/2017: Age of Disruptive Technology released in November 2016, we had projected a GDP growth of 4.0% for 2017 in anticipation of the continuing downturn. However, we are now cautiously optimistic that the GDP growth rate would be about 5.0% in the light of recent economic statistics.

Based on our analysis, we are also confident that the share of the ICT industry to the economy would grow from 17.8% to 18.2% in 2016 (Official figures from the Department of Statistics Malaysia will be released in October 2017). We are also projecting a much better salary growth rate for 2017 of 6.7% to reach about RM9,000 from RM8,484 in 2016.

I would like to thank Jobstreet.com for once again collaborating with PIKOM for the publication of this report. The data from Jobstreet.com has been an invaluable source for the association to provide industry estimates on the salary trends of ICT professionals in Malaysia. We would also like to record our appreciation to Bank Negara, Department of Statistics Malaysia, AT Kearney, International Labour Organization, Payscale, World Bank and the United Nations for their statistical

data and insights, which have enhanced the content of this publication.

In addition, I would also like to extend my appreciation to our nine sponsors who have graciously supported this year’s publication. We are grateful to FUSIONEX, BDO, PWS and Hitachi Sunway for advertising in this report for the second year in a row. Also we would like to welcome our new advertisers; Dell EMC, EK Tech, Glocomp, Iverson (a partner of Microsoft) and Epson. We thank all of you for your tremendous support and we hope that you will continue to be part of this signature report in the years to come.

Last but not least, I would like to thank our PIKOM Research Committee team for taking the lead (in its 10th year now) in providing a quality report complete with relevant data analysis and insights as well as valuable content pertaining to the growth of the industry and future of ICT human capital.

PIKOM will continue in its capacity to work with the Government, industry players and other associations to play a significant role in promoting the growth of the ICT industry and to be a relevant player in the ASEAN and ASIA regions.


PREAMBLE FROM THE PIKOM RESEARCH COMMITTEE CHAIR- WOON TAI HAI

The PIKOM ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia 2017 report has been an indispensable guide to decision makers in different industries over the last ten years, helping them to assess their human capital and IT needs and stay competitive at the same time. We often hear the cliché, “best organisations attract the best talents”, but they do come with high price tags. Our ICT professionals have been able to command relatively steady and high salaries not only due to their set of specific skills, experience and knowledge, but also because the industry has stayed in tandem with the evolution and revolution of information technology. Despite fluctuation to the average salary growth, the local trend is still on the upside.

As we commemorate the 10th edition this year, once again the report offers you the economic outlook and contribution of the ICT industry to the economy (about four times the contribution in 2007) as well as a detailed reporting of the average monthly salary of ICT professionals at various levels for 2016. It also includes a ranking comparison between countries and cities.

The following is a preamble of what is in store in this 10th edition of the report.

Economic Outlook 2017

PIKOM had projected a relatively low GDP growth of 4.2% and 4.0% for 2016 and 2017 respectively in our other signature report, ICT Strategic Review: Age of Disruptive Technology, back in November 2016. However, based on the economic data for the first quarter of 2017, PIKOM has now revised its 2017 projection with renewed but cautious optimism to a GDP growth of 5.0% for 2017.

Our optimism is based on the year-on-year GDP growth of 5.6% for the first quarter. This growth rate was spurred on by domestic demand, which grew by 7.7% in Q1 2017, up from 3.2% in Q4 2016. Domestic demand has been largely driven by private sector consumption and investment. The unemployment rate in March also dropped to 3.4% after persistently hovering at 3.5% for three months since December 2016. All sectors showed improvement in the first quarter, particularly the Agriculture Sector. Crude palm

oil yields improved as the negative impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon begins to wear off, resulting in higher prices and a double digit expansion in rubber production.

The economic performance of the country in the first three months of this year is considered to be the fastest over the past two years. Malaysia’s economy had begun to pick up during the second half of 2016, registering a GDP growth of 4.3% in the third quarter compared with 4.0% in the second quarter. The year ended strongly with a GDP growth rate of 4.5% in Q4, resulting in a 2016 growth rate of 4.2%. This is considered a commendable performance despite the fact that it is lower than the 5.0% growth achieved in 2015.

ICT Sector Outlook

In 2015, the ICT industry’s contribution to GDP (ICT-GDP) was at RM152.1 billion, according to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DOSM). This represented an increase of 10.5% from 2014 when the ICT-GDP amounted to RM137.6 billion. The 10.5% year-on-year growth in the value of the


ICT-GDP is higher than the 7.6% average annual growth rate (AAGR) from 2010 to 2015.

In view of the challenging economic climate in 2016, PIKOM has projected that the overall ICT-GDP value would grow by 7.8% to RM164.0 billion in 2016. (Official figures from DOSM will be released in October 2017).

ICT Services (ICTS) and ICT Manufacturing were the top two ICT industry segments, contributing RM61.5billion and RM55.2 billion to GDP respectively in 2015. Although the ICTS contribution was the higher between the two segments, ICT manufacturing’s year-on-year growth rate in 2015 was higher at 13.5% compared with 10.3% for ICTS. The ICTS will continue to drive the industry, and based on the AAGR trend, PIKOM projects that the ICTS contribution would be close to RM67.0 billion in 2016, with Telecommunications continuing to take the lead.

Although eCommerce has been recording strong growth, it still has far to go. The Government has set a high target of RM211 billon in terms of eCommerce contribution to the GDP by 2020. In 2015, the figure was RM68.3 billion. According to SME Corp Malaysia, eCommerce adoption among SMEs is growing steadily. In 2016, the adoption rate was only 36% but this is expected to reach 50% by 2020.

The recent launch of the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) will pave the way for higher eCommerce growth. It serves as an effective platform for SMEs to overcome the complex regulations, processes and barriers, and encourage them to pursue cross-border trading activities. This should also augur well for PIKOM as more than 50% of our members are SMEs.

ICT Job Market Outlook

We have once again collaborated with Jobstreet.com for this report. Jobstreet has provided us with the salary data derived from their job advertisements posted by employers looking for professionals to fill their IT positions. Based on this set of data as well as the job count, we have made estimates and performed trend analysis on the average salaries of ICT professionals in five job categories in 22 industries.

Our data analysis showed that the overall average monthly salary of ICT professionals had grown from RM8,114 in 2015 to RM8,484 in 2016, representing an increase of 4.6%. This is by far the lowest salary growth rate recorded since the PIKOM ICT Job Market Outlook report was first published in 2007.

The below-par performance appears to reflect the gloomy economic scenario not only in 2015, but also for 2016. All job categories, with the exception of senior managers, recorded a drop in salary growth with entry level professionals being the hardest hit with an expansion of only 3.7% compared with 5.3% in 2015. Meanwhile, the senior manager’s salary recorded a marginally higher growth rate at 6.3% in 2016 against 6.2% for 2015.

However, it is still heartening to note that the AAGR (2009-2016) of the average monthly salary of ICT professionals in all job categories as well as the overall category was still higher than the year-on-year growth from 2015-2016.

As in the past, we have also included a section on regional benchmarking, comparing the salary of an IT Project Manager in Malaysia against other countries along with a comparison between cities. The comparison was made using the Atlas Criterion and Purchasing Power Parity benchmarking scales.

This year, we have introduced a new section on the hiring trends of ICT professionals in all five job categories in 22 industries. This is based on the count of jobs that Jobstreet.com has provided. What we have seen is a significant drop in the number of job openings advertised at all levels in 2016 compared with 2015. The reduction was most obvious for the entry level position. Given a low year-on-year growth between 2015 and 2016, these findings are to be expected. The challenging economic climate in 2016 may have also influenced the hiring decisions for ICT professionals.

However, the positive economic news and numbers reported in the first quarter in 2017 offer encouragement that this year will be a lot better than last year in terms of hiring trends and salary growth.

The ICT industry has also seen some exciting developments such as the appointment of Alibaba founder Jack Ma as Malaysia’s digital economy advisor. The launch of the Digital Free Trade Zone and collaboration with Alibaba created much buzz not only in the industry, but also in the country.

We expect 2017 to be a better year for salary growth. We are projecting that the overall average monthly salary growth rate of all job categories for this year to be 6.7%, compared with 4.6% recorded in 2016. The more experienced ICT professionals should see a higher salary growth rate than their counterparts in the lower job categories. But this projected overall average monthly salary for all categories in 2017 will still be lower than the AAGR of 7.3% from 2009 to 2016.


PIKOM RESEARCH COMMITTEE 2017

Rina De Silva• Research Manager, PIKOM• Former Assistant Editor, New Straits Times Press (NSTP)• Over 20 years in the media industry, which included covering ICT news and

developments in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries• Published writing portfolio includes investigative news articles, personality pieces,

feature stories on health, ICT trends, consumer issues and community-related topics• Bachelor of Arts in Economics - Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada

Ong Kian Yew• Executive Director, PIKOM• Over 20 years of working experience in the ICT industry• Represents PIKOM in various Government committees on ICT policy and advocacy• Represents PIKOM at international level in the World IT and Services Alliance (WITSA)

and Regional Asian Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO)• Served as Secretary-General of ASOCIO in 2013• Bachelor of Marketing - University of Strathclyde

Woon Tai Hai• Executive Director, BDO Consulting Sdn Bhd, Malaysia (2014 – current)• Executive Director, KPMG Risk and Management Consulting Sdn Bhd, Malaysia

(1998 - 2013 retired)• Served two terms as PIKOM Chairman 2011 - 12 & 2012 - 2013• Appointed to PIKOM Advisory Board 2013 - 2017 / PIKOM Research Committee

Chairman 2008-2017 • Over 33 years of experience in the ICT industry and management consulting• Master of Business Administration (MBA) - University of Technology, Sydney Australia

(UTS)• Post Grad. Diploma (Finance and Accounting) - University of Technology, Sydney

Australia (UTS) • Bachelor of Science – University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia

BDO is the world’s fifth largest network of professional firms that provide audit, advisory and tax services to businesses.


Information and communication technologies (ICT) continue to stimulate and drive an industry recognised as one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing economic segments in Malaysia.

As a result, the job market for the ICT industry remains vibrant and subject to new and exciting trends such as the emergence of next generation technologies in the form of big data analytics (BDA), the internet of things (IoT), cloud as well as mobility and social media solutions.

The resulting ebb and flow in the movement of talent is one of the reasons why the ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia series commands increasing interest among industry players, job seekers and other stakeholders year after year.

PIKOM, the National ICT Association of Malaysia, has once again taken the lead to compile and publish the ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia, 2017 in collaboration with JobStreet.com. PIKOM provided the in-depth analysis and insights for the economic, industry and employment outlook based in part on the latest salary data points and employment perception index from Jobstreet.com. PIKOM also leveraged heavily on past data from various sources including Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM); and utilised various statistical methods e.g. ‘smoothening of curve’, linear extrapolation and regression technique in gauging and deriving trends.

The report is presented in four sections, as follows:• Section A: The Economic Outlook of Malaysia 2017• Section B: ICT Industry in Malaysia: Impact on the

Economy and Society• Section C: ICT Salary Trends and Regional

Benchmarking • Section D: Job Employment Outlook Perception

Readers will find in this report a detailed breakdown of prevailing ICT salaries according to the following:• ICT salaries by industry• ICT salary trends by industry 2009 - 2016• Top paying industries for ICT professionals• ICT salaries by job categories• Salary comparison between ICT core group and user

group• Top hiring industries for ICT professionals• ICT Salary benchmarking comparing Malaysia with 15

other countries and Kuala Lumpur against 73 other cities, including two more in Malaysia

PIKOM is the national representative of the ICT industry with close to 900 members as at end June 2017. Its members contribute about 80% of the total ICT revenue in the country. PIKOM membership profiles can be broadly categorised as ICT providers like wholesalers, retailers, solution providers and web service providers; ICT user community especially large-scale users in banking, insurance, telecommunications, transportation etc., and ICT-enabled service providers, in particular in the shared services and outsourcing sector. Functionally, PIKOM undertakes ICT business promotion activities, branding, trade and business promotions as well as policy and advocacy activities.

JobStreet.com (www.jobstreet.com) is a leading online job board presently covering the employment markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. JobStreet.com currently services over 230,000 corporate hirers and over 15 million jobseekers in its database.

ABOUT THIS REPORT


Section A : The Economic Outlook of Malaysia 2017 12

Section B : ICT Industry in Malaysia: Impact on the Economy and Society 24

Section C : ICT Salary Trends & Regional Benchmarking 36

Section D : Job Employment Outlook Perception 62

TABLE OF CONTENTS


THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK OF MALAYSIA 2017

SECTION A

MALAYSIA ON TRACK TO BETTER GROWTH

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) reported that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017.

The encouraging first-quarter performance this year was due to the surge in domestic demand, which increased by 7.7% in Q1 2017 as compared with 3.2% in Q4 2016. As can be seen in Figure 1, domestic demand grew on the back of higher private sector consumption and private sector investment as well as the turnaround in public sector spending.

As a comparison, private sector consumption registered a growth rate of 6.6% in Q1 2017 against 6.1% in Q4 2016. In the meantime, private sector investment grew by a whopping 12.9% in Q1 2017 due to continued capital spending in the Services and Manufacturing sectors (Q4 2016: 4.9%).

Meanwhile, public sector investment and consumption also picked up in Q1 2017, recording higher growth rates of 3.2% and 7.5% respectively (Figure 1).

It is pertinent to point out that besides Malaysia, the GDP performance of several other economies also went up when comparing between the two quarters.

Fusionex ad - Job Market Report 2017.pdf 1 6/8/2017 2:29:29 PM


SECTION A: THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK OF MALAYSIA 2017

Real GDP (Annual Change: %) Share 2016 (%)

2016 2017

Q1 Q4 Q1

Domestic Demand (excluding stocks) 91.6 3.4 3.2 7.7

Private Sector 70.1 4.4 5.9 8.2

Consumption 53.2 5.2 6.1 6.6

Investment 16.9 2.1 4.9 12.9

Public Sector 21.5 -0.2 -2.6 5.8

Consumption 13.1 2.7 -4.2 7.5

Investment 8.5 -4.4 -0.4 3.2

Net exports of goods and services 8.4 -7.9 6.4 -14.5

Exports 70.4 1.0 2.2 9.8

Imports 62.1 2.3 1.6 12.9

Change in stocks (RM billion) 0 2.3 1.5 1.8

GDP (y-o-y) 100 4.1 4.5 5.6

GDP (q-o-q growth, seasonally adjusted) - 0.8 1.3 1.8

Source: Bank Negara Malaysia Figure 1: Malaysia's economic data 2016 and Q1 2017

As shown in Figure A, they included Indonesia, Thailand, Korea and China. This can only augur well for us in 2017, given that the relatively small Malaysian economy remains dependent on the performance of other global and regional economies. For instance, any positive trends from the Chinese economy would have a spiral effect on our economy and vice versa.

Malaysian economy on an upward trajectory

Malaysia’s economy had begun to gain momentum from the second half of 2016 (Figure 2), with the quarterly GDP growth rates trending upwards from 4.0% in Q2, to 4.3% in Q3, and 4.5% in Q4. As a result of the stronger second half performance, Malaysia achieved a full year GDP growth of 4.2% for 2016.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

SingaporeKoreaThailandIndonesiaMALAYSIAPR ChinaEuro AreaUKUS

2.1 1.9 1.7

6.9

5.65

3.32.7 2.5

Source: Bank Negara MalaysiaFigure A: Quarterly growth rates of selected economies (Q4 2016 - Q1 2017)



Growth Rate (%)

4.0

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

2017 Q12016 Q42016 Q32016 Q22016 Q1

4.2 4.34.5

5.6

Source: Bank Negara and Department of Statistics, MalaysiaFigure 2: Quarter-by-quarter GDP growth rate from 2016 to 2017



The better-than-expected performance could very well lead to revised forecasts by BNM as well as international organisations and research houses. Earlier this year, BNM had projected that the local economy would grow by 4.3% to 4.8% in 2017. The central bank now expects growth to be sustained throughout the year and is optimistic that 2017’s GDP growth rate will reach the higher end of its projection.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), has also revised upwards the country’s GDP growth rate for 2017 from 4.3% to 4.9%. The institute is basing its amended forecast on the strong domestic trade figures for Q1 2017 and global trade activities. (MIDF Economic Report, Malaysia Monthly Outlook, April 2017)

In addition, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is confident that the Malaysian economy remains resilient to the volatility in commodity prices and expects real

GDP growth of 4.5% year-on-year (a figure quoted in its annual consultation report in March 2017). However, it has added a note of caution that the slowing down of emerging markets as well as the weak Ringgit could impact negatively on Malaysia.

Given the strong first quarter performance, PIKOM is similarly optimistic of better and sustained growth throughout the year. With this in mind, PIKOM has revised its forecast for GDP growth to close to 5.0% for 2017.

GDP by Production

In its Annual Economic Report for 2016, BNM reported that Malaysia registered a GDP growth of 4.2% in 2016 (Figure 3) and that all sectors of the economy expanded with the exception of the Agriculture Sector. Production in the Agriculture Sector declined by 5.1% as crude palm oil output was affected by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

2016201520142013201220112010200920082007

6.3

-1.5

7.4

4.8 5.3

5.5

4.7

6.0

5.04.2

Source: Bank Negara MalaysiaFigure 3: GDP growth rate 2007-2016



Manufacturing

23.0%

Mining &Quarrying

8.8%

Services

54.3%

Construction

4.5%Agriculture

8.1%

Source: Bank Negara and Department of Statistics, Malaysia

Chart 1: Economic Sector share of GDP at constant 2010 prices in 2016

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

Mining and QuarryingManufacturingServicesConstructionAgriculture

-2.5%

8.3%

6.5%5.1% 5.5%

4.7% 5.0%5.8% 5.6%

1.6%

Q4 2016Q1 2017

Source: Bank Negara and Department of Statistics, MalaysiaFigure 4: Comparison of performance of Economic Sectors from Q4 2016 to Q1 2017

Agriculture posted a negative growth of -2.5% in Q4 2016, leading to a production decline for the whole year. In contrast, the Services Sector grew by 5.6%; Manufacturing by 4.4%; Construction by 7.4%; and Mining & Quarrying by 2.2%. The key contributors to the economy in 2016 were the Services and Manufacturing sectors with 54.3% and 23.0% in their respective share of the GDP (Chart 1).

The GDP growth of 5.6% in Q1 2017 was contributed largely by the turnaround in the Agriculture Sector and higher growth in the Manufacturing and Services sectors (Figure 4). The Agriculture Sector posted a year-on-year growth of 8.3% on the back of improving external conditions. The central bank’s report also stated that crude palm oil yields improved as the negative impact of El Nino began to wear off.

The Manufacturing Sector also grew by 5.6% in Q1 2017, contributed mainly by the electronics and electrical segment, as demand grew for semiconductors and printed circuit boards.



Manufacturing

22.8%

Mining &Quarrying

9.0%

Services

54.2%

Construction

4.8%Agriculture

7.8%


Chart 2: Economic Sector share of GDP at constant 2010 prices (Q1: 2017)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

20162015201420132012201120102009

0.6

1.7

3.2

1.6

2.1 2.1 2.1

3.2

Source: Bank Negara and Department of Statistics, MalaysiaFigure 5: Inflation Rate

The growth rate of the Services Sector was 5.8% in the first three months of 2017. This sector was the biggest contributor to the GDP at constant 2010 prices in Q1 2017 with 54.2%, followed by the Manufacturing Sector with 22.8%; Mining & Quarrying with 9.0%; Agriculture with 7.8%; and Construction with 4.8% (Chart 2).

INFLATION

The Inflation rate in 2016 remained unchanged from 2015, averaging at a low rate of 2.1% in 2016 (Figure 5). The central bank added that low global energy and commodity prices resulted in low fuel prices and input costs, despite the fact that the Ringgit depreciated in value during the year. However, in the first quarter of this year, inflation was higher at 4.3% due largely to cost factors including the rise in global oil prices following the agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut production effective Jan 1, 2017.

The inflation rate for the months of January, February, March and April this year were 3.2%, 4.5%, 5.1% and 4.4% respectively (Figure 6). BNM expects inflation to moderate from the second quarter of this year.



0

1

2

3

4

5

6

AprilMarchFebruaryJanuary

4.5

3.2

5.14.4

Source: Bank Negara MalaysiaFigure 6: Inflation Rate (%) (January to April 2017)



Exchange Rate

The Ringgit depreciated by 4.3% and ended the year at RM4.486 against the US dollar in 2016. BNM, in its Annual Report 2016, stated that in the first four months of the year, the Ringgit strengthened against the greenback due to sustained inflow driven mainly by monetary easing in advanced economies and expectations of a delay in changes to the US interest rate (Figure 7).

The Malaysian Ringgit has fallen to its lowest level since the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) and appears to be the worst performing currency in Asia. In a move to curb currency speculation, BNM has imposed restrictions on offshore non-deliverable forwards in 2016. While this has reduced the Ringgit’s volatility, nevertheless, it has raised concern that Malaysia would once again peg the

Ringgit to the US dollar (as was done during the AFC) and stop overseas trade in Ringgit. Such measures could come with the cost of eroding investor confidence in the Malaysian economy.

The Ringgit exchange rate (assuming no changes to other currencies) will largely be driven by a number of factors: domestic and foreign interest rates; commodity prices; and capital inflow/outflow. Apart from domestic interest rates, the Government does not have any control over the other factors.

Based on the sentiment expressed by most researchers, the outlook for the Ringgit is grim, at least in the short and medium terms, but may improve in the long term with the rise of commodity prices such as oil.

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4.0

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

Apr 2017

Mar 2017

Feb 2017Jan 2017

Dec 2016

Nov 2016

Oct 2016Sep 2016

Aug 2016Jul 2016

Jun 2016

May 2016

Apr 2016

Mar 2016

Feb 2016Jan 2016

4.3481

4.1859

4.0768 4.0482

4.08714.0195

4.02694.1087

4.1776

4.3349

4.4615

4.4596

4.4460

4.4393

4.4072

3.9045

Source: Bank Negara MalaysiaFigure 7: Exchange rate of Malaysian Ringgit (RM) against US Dollar (US$)



CONCLUSION

The Malaysian economy will still face some headwinds, namely the slowing down in export growth due to economic uncertainties in advanced and emerging markets, US interest rate volatility and its cross-borders protectionist policies, and a weak Ringgit (which may give rise to inflation).

To rein in expenditure and reduce the deficit, the Government is expected to maintain a tight policy which may go against promoting domestic consumption (one of key drivers in boosting the economy). The imminent GE14 and the speculation on the timing will also not instil confidence in investors. Our economy is not out of woods yet.




Working Age Population (‘000)

2015

21,387.82016

21,655.4

LABOUR FORCE (‘000)

EMPLOYED(‘000)

UNEMPLOYED(‘000)

2015 14,518.0 14,067.7 450.3

2016 14,667.8 14,163.7 504.1

Labour Force

PARTICIPATION RATE

67.9%

2015

MALE80.6%

FEMALE54.1%

PARTICIPATION RATE

67.7%

2016

MALE80.2%

FEMALE54.3%

20152016

7.0 million 6.9 million

Working Age Population Outside Labour Force

3.4%

Unemployment Rate (2016)

Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia

Inflation Rate

2016

2.1%

2017JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL

3.2% 4.5% 5.1% 4.4%

GDP

4.2%GDP AT CONSTANT 2010 PRICES: RM1,108.2 BillionGDP AT CURRENT PRICES: RM1,230.1 Billion

GDP GROWTHRATE 2016 5.6%

GDP AT CONSTANT 2010 PRICES: RM280.1 BillionGDP AT CURRENT PRICES: RM324.6 Billion

GDP GROWTHRATE 2017 (Q1)


QUICKTAKE: LABOUR FORCE IN MALAYSIA


ICT INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA: IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

SECTION B

ICT INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

In 2007, the contribution of the ICT Industry to the Gross Domestic Product (ICT-GDP) was about RM40 billion. Eight years later in 2015, the contribution was almost four times more at RM152.1 billion, according to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DOSM) (Figure 2). This is an increase of 10.5% from 2014 where the industry’s contribution to GDP was RM137.6 billion.

The 10.5% year-on-year growth in the value of the ICT-GDP is higher than the 7.6% average annual growth rate (AAGR) from 2010 to 2015. The share of the ICT industry to the economy was 17.8% in 2015 (Table 1). This percentage comes in two parts: ICT-GDP whose share was 13.1% in 2015; as well as eCommerce (non-ICT value) whose share was 4.7%. (Figure 3).

The year 2016 was challenging for Malaysia. The GDP growth rate dropped to 4.2% compared with 5.0% in 2015, although this was still considered a commendable performance. PIKOM projects that in 2016, the ICT share of the economy would reach 18.2% and the ICT-GDP value would grow to RM164 billion in 2016 (Table 1). (The official figures from DOSM will be released in October this year).

The ICT industry in Malaysia is now much more diversified than in the 1970s (See the sidebar story on 'ICT in Malaysia: Humble beginnings to a thriving industry'). Today, it can be broadly divided into four industry segments; namely ICT Services, ICT Manufacturing, Content & Media and ICT Trade.


SECTION B: ICT INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA: IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

201520142013201220112010ICT manufacturing 40,335 37,899 39,092 42,210 48,662 55,211ICT trade 13,236 14,741 15,606 17,083 19,341 20,702ICT services 39,938 42,832 46,662 50,989 55,739 61,458Content and media 6,389 7,099 7,604 8,181 8,951 9,575Other industries 5,847 5,532 4,835 4,271 5,004 5,175ICT-GDP 105,745 108,103 113,799 122,734 137,698 152,120

RM (M

ILLI

ON)

Figure 2: Breakdown of ICT-producing Industries (2010-2015)

Sub-sector spending early 2000s Sub-sector spending 2010s

ComputerHardware

20%

ComputerHardware

22%

Computer Services

18%Computer Services

6%

Communications

52%Communications

67%

Computer Software

10%Computer Software

5%

Source: Digital Planet and PIKOM estimates

Figure 1: Spending on computer services tripled and spending on computer software doubled in the 2010s compared with the 2000s era

YearContribution of ICT to the

Economy(RM billion)

Share of ICT to the Economy

ICT-GDPeCommerce of non-ICT Industry

GDP at Current Prices

(RM billion)ICT-GDP

(RM billion) Share of

eCommerce to GDP

eCommerce (RM billion)

2010 135.3 16.5% 12.9% 3.6% 821 105.7 4.6 37.7

2011 144.5 15.9% 11.9% 4.0% 911 108.1 4.9 44.6

2012 154.6 15.9% 11.7% 4.2% 971 113.8 5.1 49.8

2013 167.4 16.4% 12.0% 4.4% 1,018 122.6 5.4 55.2

2014 188.4 17% 12.4% 4.6% 1,106 137.6 5.8 63.6

2015 206.1 17.8% 13.1% 4.7% 1,157 152.1 5.9 68.3

2016 224.2 18.2% 13.3% 4.9% 1,230 164 6.3 74.8

Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia and PIKOM estimatesTable 1: Snapshot of ICT contribution to the economy



ICT in Malaysia: Humble beginnings to a thriving industry

The ICT industry in Malaysia has come a long way from the 1970s with its manufacturing-based economy. This has since evolved into a service-driven economy which is being transformed through the Internet-of-things (IoT).

Previously known as the Information Technology (IT) industry, it is now commonly known as the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry with the entry of the telecommunications sector.

Spurring on the industry are technological innovations and drivers such as cloud computing, big data analytics (BDA) and eCommerce.

Together, these digital technologies are pushing the industry towards the next level of transformation. At the same time, they are also disrupting economies as well as social

communities. However, they can be a double-edged sword as while many new business models and opportunities are being created, just as many could falter and disappear overnight.

FILE PIX: PIKOM’s PC Fair was instrumental in feeding the Malaysian consumers’ ICT needs

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

14.0%

16.0%

2016201520142013201220112010

12.9%11.9%

11.7%

3.6% 4.0% 4.2% 4.4% 4.6% 4.7%

12.0%12.4%

13.1%

13.3%

4.9%

eCommerce of non ICT Industry ICT-GDP

Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia and PIKOM estimates

Figure 3: Growth rate of share of ICT to GDP and share of eCommerce (for non-ICT industry)

ICT SERVICES

Of the four industry segments, ICT Services (ICTS) made the highest contribution to the ICT-GDP at RM61.5 billion or a 40.4% share in 2015 (Figure 2 and Figure 4). This represents a10.3% increase from 2015.

Telecommunications was the highest contributor in this segment, registering a y-o-y growth of 11.0% (Table 2). The average annual growth rate (AAGR) from 2010 to 2015 of the ICTS contribution to ICT-GDP was 9.0%. Based on this AAGR, PIKOM projects that the ICTS contribution would be close to RM67

ICT manufacturing

36.3%ICT trade

13.6%

ICT services

40.4%Content and media

6.3% Other industries

3.4%

Department of Statistics, Malaysia

Figure 4: Share of ICT -producing industries in 2015



billion in 2016, with Telecommunications continuing to take the lead.

ICT MANUFACTURING

ICT Manufacturing contributed RM55.2 billion to the ICT-GDP in 2015, representing a share of 36.3% and registering an increase of 13.5% from 2014. This

component posted the highest year-on-year growth in 2015. The main contributor to ICT Manufacturing was the group of electronic components and boards, communication equipment and consumer electronics, which collectively contributed about RM51 billion (Table 2). The AAGR from 2010-2015 of ICT Manufacturing’s contribution to ICT-GDP was 6.8%. As Malaysia continues on its path towards a high-value added services economy, the contribution of ICT Manufacturing is expected to slow gradually.

Some have even predicted that within 20 years, driverless cars will dominate the roads and render driving skills obsolete. The automotive industry in the US began in the 1890s and took more than a century to reach its current state of technology. Yet, 20 years, the pace of

change could potentially alter not only the technological landscape, but also shift the mindsets and concept of drivers and the industry.

PIKOM’s statistics showed that ICT expenditure (computer equipment and parts) grew from RM1.3 billion

to RM6.5 billion from 1990 to 2001. Banking, Oil & Gas and the Government sectors were the top spenders on ICT equipment in the 1990s. In the new millennium, however, it was the Manufacturing Sector that led the other sectors in ICT expenditure.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015y-o-y growth (2014-2015)

Average Annual Growth Rate (%) (2010-2015)

RM (million)

ICT manufacturing

40,335 37,899 39,092 42,210 48,662 55,211 13.5% 6.8%

Computers and peripheral equipment 6,211 4,422 4,237 4,419 4,505 4,511 0.1% -5.3%

Electronic components & boards, communication equipment and consumer electronics

34,124 33,478 34,855 37,791 44,157 50,699 14.8% 8.5%

ICT trade 13,236 14,741 15,606 17,083 19,341 20,702 7.0% 9.4%

Wholesale trade 4,924 5,696 5,900 6,380 7,084 7,085 0.0% 7.7%

Retail trade 8,312 9,045 9,706 10,702 12,257 13,618 11.1% 10.4%

ICT services 39,938 42,832 46,662 50,989 55,739 61,458 10.3% 9.0%

Telecommunications 26,231 28,782 31,817 35,072 38,841 43,120 11.0% 10.5%

Computer programming, consultancy, information and related activities

9,826 9,944 10,476 11,218 12,262 13,383 9.1% 6.4%

Other ICT services 3,881 4,106 4,369 4,699 4,636 4,954 6.9% 5.1%

Content and media 6,389 7,099 7,604 8,181 8,951 9,575 7.0% 8.4%

Publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities 2,823 3,109 3,168 3,232 3,629 3,905 7.6% 6.8%

Motion picture, video, television programme, photographic and creative activities

1,288 1,370 1,514 1,830 1,950 2,055 5.4% 9.9%

Other content and media 2,279 2,619 2,922 3,119 3,372 3,615 7.2% 9.7%

Other industries 5,847 5,532 4,835 4,271 5,004 5,175 3.4% -1.8%

ICT-GDP 105,745 108,103 113,799 122,734 137,698 152,120 10.5% 7.6%

Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia Table 2: Contribution of ICT-producing industries 2010 - 2015



eCommerce

The Government has identified eCommerce as vital to Malaysia’s economic future and has committed to increasing its adoption rate in the country. The eCommerce contribution to GDP is expected to reach RM211 billion by the year 2020.

In 2015, eCommerce in total (non-ICT and ICT) contributed RM68.3 billion to GDP in 2015, representing a 5.9% share of GDP (Table 1 and Figure 5). Its GDP contribution grew by 7.3% from RM63.7 billion in 2014.

The eCommerce contribution to GDP is sub-divided into ICT industry and non-ICT industry in order to distinguish IT products and non-IT products such as clothing and books. The non-ICT component made up a larger share at RM53 billion (4.7%) of the eCommerce contribution to GDP than the ICT component in 2015.

We still have far to go in terms of eCommerce contribution to GDP, according to the Ministry of International Trade

and Industry. The contribution of eCommerce of 5.9% to GDP in 2015 pales in comparison to that in the US where the contribution is 35% of their GDP and in China where it is about 21% of GDP.

PIKOM’s other signature publication, ICT Strategic Review 2016/2017: Age of Disruptive Technology, launched last November, showed that Malaysia’s online retail sales only make up less than 1% of total retail sales compared with China and US, at 14% and 11% respectively. This data was obtained from AT Kearney’s Impact of AEC on Cross Border eCommercereport, released in 2016. (Figure 6).

Employment in the ICT Industry

The number of employees in the ICT industry has been growing modestly since 2010. The bulk of the employees were in ICT manufacturing companies. (See Figure 7 and Figure 8).

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

2016201520142013201220112010

18.2%11.6%

11.1%15.2%

7.3%9.5%

37,72

944

,605

49,76

055

,262

63,64

968

,309

74,77

2

(milli

on, R

M)

Growth RateeCommerce Gross Value Added

Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia and PIKOM estimatesFigure 5: eCommerce gross value added from 2010 -2016

Consumer appetite for computers, peripherals and gadgets, and ICT services drove sales of IT equipment signifi cantly. PIKOM’s past records showed that the number of installed PCs grew from 610,000 in 1995 to three million in 2001. The number of internet subscribers increased

from 18,000 to two million while the number of internet users rose from 30,000 to 6.5 million during the same period.

PIKOM’s popular national cash & carry event, PC Fair, which has been running for more than two decades since

1995, was instrumental in feeding the Malaysian consumers’ ICT needs.

ICT spending shifted from hardware manufacturing in the 1990s and 2000s to higher-value added segments such as software and services starting from 2010 (See also Figure 1).



900

920

940

960

980

1,000

1,020

1,040

1,060

1,080

201520142013201220112010

956

986996

1,0141,036

1,064

Num

ber o

f Em

ploy

ees

(Tho

usan

d)

Figure 7: Employees in the ICT industry from 2010 to 2015

050

100150200250300350400450

201520142013201220112010ICT manufacturing 401 409 391 396 402 408ICT trade 165 158 162 196 193 218ICT services 261 277 204 282 203 285Content and media 129 142 149 140 285 152

Num

ber o

f Em

ploy

ees,

000

Department of Statistics, MalaysiaFigure 8: Breakdown of employment in the ICT industry (2010-2015)

VNPHMalaysiaTHIDSGUSCN

14%

11%

5%

2% 2% below 1%

Source: AT Kearney

Figure 6: Share of online retail sales (2015: % of total retail sales)



Developments in the ICT Industry 2016/2017

Over the past two years, Malaysia has seen a host of exciting news and interesting developments on ICT. Below is a list of news topics that have hit the headlines and are poised to generate positive sentiment on the future of the industry in the years to come, especially with a growing youthful tech-savvy population. We also have a Government that fully backs a digital economy. These are encouraging factors that will make the industry an investment hub and ICT leader among our neighbours in ASEAN.

Year of the Internet Economy

The Government announced 2017 as the year of the ‘Internet Economy’, outlining five key strategic catalysts: namely physical microcosms, risk capital funding, connectivity, building of talent pool and regulatory framework. The Government will place emphasis on physical microcosms, which is a cluster of digital hubs where a new breed of start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs can connect, converge and create ideas.

To encourage a smooth operation in the creation of these hubs, a simpler and faster approval process will be implemented under the tutelage of the Communications and Multimedia Ministry. The Government will also offer Public Services Department (JPA) scholarships for digital technology-related courses. It is estimated that 20,000 data professionals and 2,000 data scientists would be needed by 2020 with big data analytics (BDA) set to be a key driver of the digital economy.

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has also forecasted that one million digital workers, such as coders, application developers and software engineers, would be needed by 2025.

PIKOM’s New eCommerce Chapter

On January 12 this year, PIKOM launched its new eCommerce Malaysia chapter aimed at supporting the fast-growing eCommerce market. The new chapter's objectives will include promoting local eCommerce players through regional and global initiatives and will also be the point of contact with the Government on eCommerce related matters.

The eCommerce Malaysia chapter will also work closely with the National eCommerce Council (NECC) and MDEC to ensure that the initiatives and programmes of the chapter will be in line with the National eCommerce Roadmap. Membership of the chapter will comprise eCommerce merchants, marketplaces, payment providers, logistics and fulfilment players. This new chapter will complement and leverage the newly-launched ASOCIO eCommerce Alliance platform to grow cross border eCommerce trade.

Launch of the Digital Free Trade Zone

An exciting event took place in this year which is expected to make a significant impact on the eCommerce market in Malaysia. On March 22, Alibaba founder Jack Ma arrived here for the launch of the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) to promote eCommerce by providing a state-of-the-art platform for SMEs and enterprises to conduct business and provide services. Ma had already been picked by the Malaysian Government to be the country’s digital economy advisor in November 2016.

DFTZ will provide physical and virtual zones to facilitate SMEs to capitalise on the convergence of exponential growth of the internet economy and cross-border eCommerce activities. It will support internet companies to trade goods, provide services, innovate and co-create solutions.

PIKOM is definitely supportive of the DFTZ as the National ICT Association of Malaysia believes the initiative will greatly benefit our members, with more than half of them being SMEs. SMEs should have a smooth gateway to reach out to their customers beyond Malaysian borders.

DFTZ is meant to help SMEs overcome the complex regulations, processes and barriers. DFTZ will definitely complement PIKOM’s new eCommerce chapter. According to SME Corp Malaysia, there are 645,136 SMEs in Malaysia. eCommerce adoption among SMEs is growing with the 2016 adoption rate at 36% and expected to rise to 50% by 2020.

In February, the Government had already announced that any purchase of goods worth RM1,200 and below from the DFTZ would be exempted from tax. This facility was aimed at reducing tax barriers to encourage more Malaysians to use eCommerce.



Budget 2017

On October 21 2016, the Budget 2017 was tabled in Parliament. The initiatives related to the ICT industry included: • MDEC to implement digital programmes such as

eCommerce ecosystem; Digital Maker Movement as well as the Malaysia Digital Hub;

• Introduction of the first DFTZ (which was launched in March this year);

• More competitive prices for broadband internet;• Increase of ethernet broadband speed in public

universities to maximum 100 Gbps;• Widening of coverage and enhancement to the quality

of broadband up to 20 mbps throughout the nation;• Extension of existing computer loan facility for public

servants to include smartphones, with a limit of RM5,000 every 3 years;

• The provision of RM2,500 lifestyle tax relief for various items will now include smartphones, tablets and broadband purchase;

• Implementation of coding in school which is one of the National Blue Ocean Strategy initiatives (launched in May this year).

Coding@ Schools 2017

• This is an introductory programme for primary school children to learn basic coding;

• It is estimated that 6,000 students would be trained in 2017;

• The programme was created to introduce and sensitise primary school children between the ages of 10 to 12 into the world of computing and programming;

• Encourage kids to become contributors to the Internet rather than mere consumers;

• Encourage and teach them problem solving and computational thinking skills;

• To focus more on schools in the rural areas while expanding its content to three categories: Immersion Camp, Alumni Bootcamp and Hackathons;

• Designed by Finance Minister’s National Strategy Unit and Ministry of Education with the support of State Education Department.

ICT Development Index

Malaysia moved up five notches to number 61 in the ICT Development Index 2016, which was developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialised agency of the United Nations for ICT.

This index captures the level of ICT development in 175 economies worldwide. With this score, Malaysia ranks second in Southeast Asia and eighth in Asia Pacific. This achievement was attributed primarily to the increase in mobile broadband subscriptions which was supported by improvements in the proportion of individuals using the internet. Malaysia recorded a high value for mobile cellular subscriptions but a much lower value for fixed telephone subscriptions found in developed countries and high-income developing countries.

Malaysia also achieved a substantially higher value in the ICT usage sub-index, increasing 1.23 points to 5.86 over the year. On the other hand, the value for the ICT skills sub-index remained unchanged at 5.87 during the same period.

The IDI is the core feature of the annual Measuring the Information Society (MIS) report and a benchmark of the level of ICT development in economies around the world. The IDI combines eleven indicators on ICT access, use and skills, capturing key aspects of ICT development in one measure that allows for comparisons across countries and over time.

Looking Ahead

The year 2020 is only three years away and the nation is expecting to see many of the targeted goals achieved by that time. More importantly, Malaysia has set a target to be a developed nation by 2020. The ICT industry is also expected to reach new heights by that time. Malaysia has been working hard to be on par with other economies to build a nation that is tech savvy and tech-friendly with tech-enabled economic sectors to attract investments and build a more knowledge-based society. The internet of things (IoT) is one area which is expected to significantly transform our society and economy.



IoT has been defined as the convergence of smart devices that generate data through sensors to create new information and knowledge to boost human intelligence, efficacy and productivity to enhance the quality of life. While IoT implementation may have begun as early as 2003 in Korea with their smart city and smart Government projects, most other developed nations only began in 2010 and beyond.

Gartner research group has forecasted that by 2020, there would be about 21 billion devices worldwide connected to the internet which could generate at least 20 zetta bytes of data. Global consumer and business spending on IoT is expected to reach a staggering US$3 trillion. This year alone, it is estimated that 8.4 billion connected things will be in use. Total IoT spending on endpoints and services will reach almost US$2 trillion in 2017.

Malaysia is one of the few countries in ASEAN to have taken the initiative to develop a comprehensive roadmap to make IoT a key contributor to the country. Statistics have shown Malaysia is ripe for strong IoT growth as the nation has a high mobile penetration of 143.7%, internet usage of 65.8%, and social media penetration of 45%.

The Malaysian Government, through the National R&D research agency (MIMOS), has outlined an IoT strategic roadmap to make Malaysia a regional IoT development hub. This is aimed at creating RM9.5 billion of yearly contribution to the economy by 2020 and RM42.5 billion by 2025. Further, the growth of IoT in Malaysia is expected to create 14,270 employment opportunities by 2020.

However, this rosy picture is also accompanied by challenges that must be addressed to ensure the national IoT roadmap progresses smoothly.

ICT adoption in rural areas has yet to reach encouraging levels and the users’ apparent phobia of using technology is a point of concern. We still have security and privacy concerns to address as well as barriers to the free market to overcome.

MIMOS has lined up pilot projects where industry players can play a role in driving productivity in various economic sectors. For example, IoT-enabled applications and services have been developed to increase farming productivity and improving the quality of output while taking into account the cost factor and sustainability.

Another exciting IoT application is in the area of healthcare where wearable devices are used to track daily activities, vital signs and dietary habits to help medical practitioners diagnose medical conditions more effectively and prescribe much more precise treatments.

With all these exciting innovations to look forward to, it will be interesting to see how the next three years will evolve in terms of more ICT development and progress. This includes the change in consumers IT appetite and habits, and the impact from the emerging global IT industry.

Will we see driverless automobiles navigating the sky in this lifetime? As always, there is never a dull moment in the world of information and communications technology.


ICT SALARY TRENDS & REGIONAL BENCHMARKING

SECTION C

2016 SALARY GROWTH RATE The overall average monthly salary of ICT professionals in Malaysia in 2016 grew to an estimated RM8,484 (Figure 1), an increase of 4.6% from the RM8,114 salary reported in 2015.

PIKOM’s annual signature ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia reports from 2007 have outlined consistent growth in the salaries of ICT professionals during this period. That said, the overall salary growth rate of 4.6% in 2016 is by far the lowest since 2009. It also fell just short of the 4.7% increase projected by PIKOM in our report last year.

Furthermore, the salary growth rates of fresh graduates, junior executives, senior executives and managers all

dipped below expectations in 2016, with the fresh graduate category experiencing the lowest growth at 3.7%.

Arguably however, this was not surprising given that the country faced a number of domestic and external economic challenges last year. After all, the world economy recorded the lowest growth rate in 2016 since the Global Financial Crisis (2007-2008); as a result impacting Malaysia through a subdued global demand and low commodity prices.

The GDP growth rate for Malaysia in 2016 was 4.2% compared with 5.0% the previous year. Furthermore the Ringgit continued to depreciate against the US dollar. The local currency fell 4.3% against the greenback during the year. By year end, the exchange rate was US$1 =

Untitled-4 1 6/8/2017 2:39:37 PM


SECTION C: ICT SALARY TRENDS & REGIONAL BENCHMARKING

RM4.486. Bank Negara also reported that all economic sectors recorded modest expansion during 2016.

So what can be expected in 2017? It should be noted that Malaysia is off to a great start in economic performance. Bank Negara reported last month that the economy expanded by 5.6% in the first quarter of 2017. This growth over three months is the highest in two years. Stronger domestic demand, particularly private sector spending, has fuelled the growth in the first quarter. There was also a turnaround in the Agriculture Sector, which had posted a below-par performance in 2016. The Manufacturing and Services sectors also grew stronger in Q1.

In Bank Negara’s Annual Report 2016, the central bank had before the release of the GDP results for Q1 2017 stated that the Malaysian economy is expected to recover this year, projecting a sustained GDP growth rate of 4.3% to 4.8% for 2017. Given the strong start to the economy, many financial institutions and economic pundits have revised up their projection for GDP growth this year. The gradual improvement in global growth, recovery in global commodity prices and continued expansion of domestic demand are all poised to drive economic recovery.

At PIKOM, we are heartened to see the continuous support of the Government for the ICT Industry. This year, one of the hottest industry news in Malaysia was the launch of the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) where Alibaba founder Jack Ma personally came to Malaysia for this historic event.

The launch opens a flood of opportunities in the eCommerce market and is bound to create demand for skilled ICT professionals in the years to come. This development also has the potential to lure back talented Malaysians based abroad.

With this positive outlook and the double-digit growth rate of the ICT industry’s contribution to GDP, PIKOM is projecting 6.7% growth for the overall average monthly salary in 2017. This is a much higher growth rate than in 2016 (4.6%) as well as 2015 (5.3%). Even so, the projected growth rate for 2017 is lower than the 7.3% average annual growth rate (AAGR) from 2009 to 2016.

Although not bullish, PIKOM is cautiously optimistic about the ICT salary market for 2017. Needless to say, the overall sentiment is positive given the encouraging performance of the economy in Q1 2017. It appears that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In this section, we will go through salary trends for each of the five position categories. The salary figures reported here are based on data provided by Jobstreet.com as well as from PIKOM estimates. The Jobstreet data is culled from job advertisements posted by companies seeking candidates to fill openings in their IT departments. For this report, we have focused on jobs posted by companies in 22 industries:

• Property/Real Estate;• Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology;

5,000

5,500

6,000

6,500

7,000

7,500

8,000

8,500

9,000

9,500

201720162015201420132012201120102009

8.2%10.9%

6.9%7.1%

7.9%5.3%

4.6%6.7%

Percentage Growth 8.2% 10.9% 6.9% 7.1% 7.9% 5.3% 4.6% 6.7% 7.3%

Average Monthly Salary 5,200 5,626 6,238 6,667 7,142 7,706 8,114 8,484 9,056

AAGR(2009-2016)

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

Source: Jobstreet.com and PIKOM Estimates Figure 1: Overall Average Monthly Salary of ICT Professional (2009-2016)



• Electrical & Electronics;• Telecommunication;• Oil/Gas/Petroleum;• Hotel/Restaurant/Food Service/Hospitality;• Agriculture/Plantation/Aquaculture;• Wholesale/Retail/Trading;• Education;• Call Center/IT-Enabled Services/BPO;• Manufacturing/Production;• Construction/Building/Engineering;• Transport/Storage/Freight/Shipping;• Consulting (Business/Technical);• Utilities;• Banking;• Semiconductor/WaferFabrication;• Automotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery;• Financial Services/Securities/Insurance;• Printing/Publishing; and• Computer/IT (Software) and Computer/IT (Hardware).

We will also highlight the comparison of salaries in ICT User and ICT Core industries as well as the top-paying and top-hiring industries. As in previous reports, we will compare the salary of an ICT job position in Malaysia against countries in other parts of the world using the Atlas and Purchasing Power Parity regional benchmarking scales.

SALARY TRENDS BY JOB CATEGORY All job categories posted an increase in average monthly salary in 2016. However, all categories with the exception of the senior manager level showed a much lowered growth rate (See Table 1). In fact the senior manager level only recorded a marginal increase in the average monthly salary, moving from 6.2% to 6.3%.

However, 2017 is expected to be a better year. As such, PIKOM projects that the overall salary growth rate of all

Job Category Entry Level Junior Executive: 1-4 years working experience

Senior Executive: > 4 Years Working Experience Manager Senior Manager Overall

RM y-o-y (%) RM y-o-y

(%) RM y-o-y (%) RM y-o-y

(%) RM y-o-y (%) RM y-o-y

(%)

2009 1971 2800 4332 6163 10368 5200

2010 2181 10.7 2936 4.9 4514 4.2 7005 13.7 10795 4.1 5626 8.2

2011 2238 2.6 3151 7.3 5039 11.6 7837 11.9 12166 12.7 6238 10.9

2012 2324 3.8 3205 1.7 5344 6.1 8434 7.6 13674 12.4 6667 6.9

2013 2438 4.9 3439 7.3 5744 7.5 8986 6.5 14661 7.2 7142 7.1

2014 2581 5.9 3719 8.1 6157 7.2 9591 6.7 16057 9.5 7706 7.9

2015 2718 5.3 3894 4.7 6483 5.3 10195 6.3 17053 6.2 8114 5.3

2016 2817 3.7 4052 4.1 6727 3.8 10646 4.4 18132 6.3 8484 4.6

2017 2931 4.0% 4230 4.4% 7169 6.6% 11454 7.6% 19379 6.9% 9056 6.7%

AAGR(2009-2016) 5.3% 5.4% 6.5% 8.2% 8.4% 7.3%

Job Category Entry Level Junior Executive: 1-4

years working experienceSenior Executive: > 4 Years

Working Experience Manager Senior Manager Overall

Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio

2009 1.0 1.42 2.20 3.13 5.26 2.64

2010 1.0 1.35 2.07 3.21 4.95 2.58

2011 1.0 1.41 2.25 3.50 5.44 2.79

2012 1.0 1.38 2.30 3.63 5.88 2.87

2013 1.0 1.41 2.36 3.69 6.01 2.93

2014 1.0 1.44 2.39 3.72 6.22 2.99

2015 1.0 1.43 2.39 3.75 6.27 2.99

2016 1.0 1.44 2.39 3.78 6.44 3.00

2017 1.0 1.44 2.45 3.63 6.61 3.01

Source: Jobstreet.com and PIKOM Estimates Table 1: Average Monthly Salary of ICT Professionals by Job Category (2009-2017)



job categories will be 6.7% for this year, which is higher than the 4.6% recorded in 2016. The more experienced ICT professionals should see a higher salary growth rate than their counterparts in the lower job categories.

The gap between the salaries of entry level ICT professionals and other job categories continues to widen. In 2016, the average monthly salary of a senior manager level ICT professional was 6.44 times more than a fresh graduate. It is projected to be 6.61 times more in 2017. (Table 1)

Entry Level Category

The average monthly salary of ICT professionals in the Entry Level Category grew by 3.7% in 2016, compared with 5.3% in 2015 (See Figure 2). This was a lower than expected growth rate as PIKOM had in our previous report projected an increase of 4.7% for 2016. Furthermore, the 3.7% salary growth rate of Entry Level professionals was the lowest among all the five job categories.

However the AAGR from 2009 to 2016 for this job category was higher at 5.3%. We expect the average monthly salary in this case to grow modestly by 4.0% to RM2,931 in 2017 in view of the prevailing challenges in hiring entry level professionals/fresh graduates.

A survey conducted by JobStreet.com in Q1 2017 found that employers in Malaysia still face numerous problems in hiring new graduates. In the survey, about three quarters of employers polled revealed that fresh graduates are of moderate quality. Employers also face challenges finding suitable candidates for a particular position.

In its Annual Report 2016 under the section, Youth Unemployment in Malaysia: Developments and Policy Considerations, Bank Negara cited a survey conducted by the World Bank and Talent Corporation which found that 90% of companies believe that university graduates should have more industrial training by the time they graduate, and 81% of companies surveyed rated communication skills as a major deficit among graduates.

The paper also stated that cautious business sentiments and moderating economic performance have restrained businesses from expanding their workforce. “The youth are the most vulnerable to these trends; they are likely to be the last to be hired and the first to be made redundant, due to their lack of experience, higher information asymmetry on the labour market, and poor ability to communicate their skills effectively to employers,” stated Bank Negara.

1,800

2,000

2,200

2,400

2,600

2,800

3,000

201720162015201420132012201120102009

10.7%2.6%

3.8%4.9%

5.9%5.3%

3.7%4.0%

Growth Rate 10.7% 2.6% 3.8% 4.9% 5.9% 5.3% 3.7% 4.0% 5.3%

Salary 1,971 2,181 2,238 2,324 2,438 2,581 2,718 2,817 2,931

AAGR(2009-2016)

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

Source: Jobstreet.com and PIKOM Estimates

Figure 2: Average Monthly Salary of Entry Level ICT Professionals (2009-2017)



Industry 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 y-o-y Growth (2015-2016)

AAGR 2009-2016

Construction/Building/ Engineering 1,301 1,546 1,800 2,023 2,394 2,494 2,722 2,934 7.8% 12.4%

Automotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery 1,406 1,731 2,175 2,175 2,763 3,063 3,387 3,615 6.7% 14.9%

Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology 1,967 2,162 2,350 2,500 2,500 2,500 2,521 2,683 6.4% 4.6%

Electrical & Electronics 1,508 1,769 2,063 2,343 2,343 2,931 3,110 3,279 5.4% 12.0%

Education 1,581 1,750 1,975 1,983 2,305 2,433 2,602 2,721 4.6% 8.2%

Oil/Gas/Petroleum 2,211 2,356 2,418 2,775 2,775 2,900 2,984 3,117 4.4% 5.1%

Banking 1,805 2,000 2,225 2,425 2,425 2,875 3,008 3,130 4.1% 8.3%

Printing/Publishing 2,033 2,131 2,225 2,300 2,300 2,300 2,310 2,391 3.5% 2.4%

Wholesale/Retail/Trading 1,635 1,725 1,800 1,925 2,000 2,075 2,145 2,218 3.4% 4.5%

Consulting (Business/Technical) 2,000 2,125 2,275 2,325 2,525 2,625 2,742 2,832 3.3% 5.1%

Computer/IT (Hardware) 2,072 2,155 2,213 2,368 2,385 2,485 2,541 2,607 2.6% 3.4%

Financial Services/Securities/Insurance 2,063 2,150 2,225 2,350 2,400 2,500 2,565 2,633 2.6% 3.6%

Computer/IT (Software) 2,125 2,244 2,400 2,450 2,553 2,763 2,861 2,934 2.5% 4.7%

Telecommunication 1,918 2,008 2,120 2,150 2,280 2,375 2,457 2,518 2.5% 4.0%

Call Center/IT-Enabled Services/BPO 2,025 2,125 2,275 2,275 2,375 2,575 2,660 2,714 2.1% 4.3%

Transport/Storage/Freight/Shipping 2,051 2,140 2,284 2,250 2,375 2,538 2,619 2,666 1.8% 3.9%

Hotel/Restaurant/Food Service/ Hospitality 2,165 2,199 2,225 2,288 2,288 2,340 2,362 2,388 1.1% 1.4%

Manufacturing/Production 2,384 2,434 2,508 2,508 2,558 2,655 2,698 2,724 1.0% 1.9%

Table 2: Average Monthly Salary of Entry Level ICT Professionals by Industry (2009 - 2016)

• ICT Salary Trends by Industry 2009-2016: Entry Level Category

Table 2 shows the average monthly salary of Entry Level ICT professionals in 18 industries, ranked according to the year-on-year growth rate from 2015 to 2016. The five industries with the highest growth rate in average monthly salary for this job category were:

¤ Construction/Building/Engineering (7.8%); ¤ Automotive/HeavyIndustry/Machinery (6.7%);

¤ Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology (6.4%);

¤ Electrical & Electronics (5.4%); and ¤ Education (4.6%).

Three of these industries – Automotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery, Construction/Building Engineering and Electrical & Electronics - also posted the highest AAGR from 2009 to 2016 at 14.9%, 12.4% and 12% respectively for this job category.



Junior Executive Category

The average monthly salary of the Junior Executive Category in 2016 also grew at a lower rate compared with 2015 (See Figure 3). The 4.1% growth rate in 2016 was considerably lower than PIKOM's projection of 4.8% made

in the previous report. We expect the average monthly salary of Junior Executive ICT professionals to grow by 4.4% to RM4,230 in 2017 from RM4,052 in 2016. This is still a much lower projection compared with the AAGR of 5.4% from 2009 to 2016.

2,500

2,900

3,300

3,700

4,100

4,500

201720162015201420132012201120102009

4.9%7.3% 1.7%

7.3%8.1%

4.7% 4.1% 4.4%

Growth Rate 4.9% 7.3% 1.7% 7.3% 8.1% 4.7% 4.1% 4.4% 5.4%

Salary 2,800 2,936 3,151 3,205 3,439 3,719 3,894 4,052 4,230

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

AAGR(2009-2016)


Figure 3: Average Monthly Salary of Junior Level ICT Professionals (2009-2017)

Industry 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016y-o-y

growth (2015-2016)

AAGR (2009-2016)

Property / Real Estate 2,425 2,538 3,905 3,215 3,225 3,425 3,500 3,810 8.9% 8.3%


Hotel/Restaurant/Food Service/ Hospitality 2,258 2,525 2,575 3,045 3,258 3,355 3,594 3,810 6.0% 7.9%


Agriculture / Plantation / Aquaculture 2,947 2,968 3,372 3,683 3,900 4,025 4,268 4,485 5.1% 6.3%

Semiconductor/Wafer Fabrication 3,061 3,160 3,700 3,753 3,753 3,963 4,094 4,297 5.0% 5.1%

Utilities 2,664 2,734 3,092 3,226 3,360 3,440 3,603 3,775 4.8% 5.2%

Education 2,133 2,175 2,523 2,575 2,888 3,150 3,288 3,434 4.4% 7.2%




Banking 2,900 3,262 3,400 3,475 3,543 4,160 4,165 4,305 3.4% 6.0%



Science & Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology 2,575 2,585 2,925 3,069 3,171 3,888 3,907 4,023 3.0% 6.8%

Manufacturing / Production 2,825 3,025 3,095 3,157 3,292 3,392 3,464 3,565 2.9% 3.4%







Table 3: Average Monthly Salary of Junior Level ICT Professionals by Industry (2009 - 2016)



• ICT Salary Trends by Industry 2009-2016: Junior Executive Category

In Table 3, the 22 industries are ranked by the annual growth rate in average monthly salary for Junior Executive ICT professionals in 2016. The top five were:

¤ Property/Real Estate (8.9%); ¤ Wholesale/Retail/Trading (8.6%); ¤ Hotel/Restaurant/Food Service/Hospitality (6.0%); ¤ Oil/Gas/Petroleum (5.1%); and ¤ Agriculture/Plantation/Aquaculture (5.1%).

The three industries that registered the highest AAGR in average monthly salary from 2009 to 2016 were Wholesale/Retail/Trading (8.5%); Property/Real Estate (8.3%) and Hotel/Restaurant/Food Service/Hospitality (7.9%).

Senior Executive Category

The average monthly salary of a Senior Executive ICT professional in 2016 was RM6,727 compared with RM6,483 in 2015, representing a growth rate of 3.8% (See Figure 4).

This again, was a drop in growth rate compared with the 5.3% salary increase in 2015. However, PIKOM is optimistic that senior executives will experience a much

higher salary growth in 2017 of 6.6% to an expected salary of RM7,169. The economy is expected to improve and this will open up job opportunities for middle-ranked ICT professionals who are both still affordable and much more experienced than their counterparts in the lower job categories. This is the only job category that is expected to register a higher annual salary growth rate than the AAGR of 6.5% from 2009 to 2016.

• ICT Salary Trends by Industry 2009-2016: Senior Executive Category

In Table 4, the 22 industries are ranked by the annual growth rate in average monthly salary for Senior Executive ICT professionals. The top five were:

¤ Property/Real Estate (8.2%); ¤ Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology

(6.7%); ¤ Electrical & Electronics (6.5%); ¤ Telecommunication (5.9%); and ¤ Oil/Gas/Petroleum (5.5%).

Table 4 also shows that Agriculture/Plantation/Aquaculture posted the highest AAGR at 12.2% in average monthly salary from 2009 to 2016. This was followed by Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology (8.9%) and Electrical & Electronics (8.1%).

4,000

4,500

5,000

5,500

6,000

6,500

7,000

7,500

201720162015201420132012201120102009

4.2%

11.6%6.1%

7.5%7.2%

5.3%3.8%

6.6%

Growth Rate 4.2% 11.6% 6.1% 7.5% 7.2% 5.3% 3.8% 6.6% 6.5%

Salary 4,332 4,514 5,039 5,344 5,744 6,157 6,483 6,727 7,169

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

AAGR(2009-2016)

Source: Jobstreet.com and PIKOM Estimates Figure 4: Average Monthly Salary of Senior Level ICT Professionals (2009-2017)



Manager Category

The average monthly salary of ICT professionals for this category in 2016 was RM10,646, registering a growth of 4.4% compared with RM10,195 in 2015 (See Figure 5). This growth rate was significantly lower than the 6.3% increase in 2015 as well as PIKOM's expectation of a 5.2% increase projected in the previous year’s report.

Nevertheless, the association is optimistic the experienced ICT professionals in this category will see a much better salary growth rate of 7.6% in 2017, in line with the recovery of the economy and demand for more experienced and higher ranked professionals. The projected growth rate for 2017 is still lower than the 8.2% AAGR in salary for ICT professionals at the manager level.

• ICT Salary Trends by Industry 2009-2016: Manager Category

In Table 5, we can see that the Wholesale/Retail/Trading industry was ranked the highest among 18 industries in terms of the annual growth rate at 12.4%. This was followed by Construction/Building/Engineering (6.6%); Education (6.1%); Manufacturing/ Production (6.1%) and Electrical & Electronics (5.3%). Wholesale/Retail/Trading also led the other 18 industries in registering the highest AAGR (13.6%) from 2009 to 2016. This was followed by Education (11.4%) and Construction/Building/Engineering (9.8%).


AAGR (2009-2016)

Property/Real Estate 4,339 4,339 5,300 5,825 6,050 6,250 6,483 7,017 8.2% 7.3%





Hotel/Restaurant/Food Service/Hospitality 4,433 4,801 4,801 5,475 5,925 6,050 6,399 6,723 5.1% 6.2%

Agriculture/Plantation/ Aquaculture 3,683 3,967 4,600 5,033 5,943 7,154 7,803 8,173 4.7% 12.2%


Education 3,225 3,225 4,100 4,100 4,165 4,475 4,913 5,127 4.4% 7.2%


Manufacturing/ Production 4,650 4,525 5,175 5,298 5,822 6,207 6,446 6,702 4.0% 5.5%




Utilities 4,550 4,550 4,710 5,201 5,201 5,350 5,525 5,699 3.1% 3.3%

Banking 4,763 4,749 5,395 5,575 5,825 6,319 6,840 7,009 2.5% 5.8%

Semiconductor/Wafer Fabrication 5,377 5,563 5,685 5,810 5,875 6,225 6,303 6,414 1.8% 2.6%






Table 4: Average Monthly Salary of Senior Level ICT Professionals by Industry (2009 - 2016)



Industry 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 y-o-y Growth

AAGR (2009-2016)



Education 4,200 4,950 5,175 6,043 6,750 7,625 8,375 8,885 6.1% 11.4%

Manufacturing/Production 6,675 7,295 8,340 8,345 8,720 9,025 9,404 9,974 6.1% 6.0%









Banking 7,631 7,675 7,983 8,494 8,775 9,237 9,462 9,756 3.1% 3.6%



Utilities 6,849 7,016 7,244 7,244 7,550 7,700 7,816 7,980 2.1% 2.2%

Agriculture/Plantation/ Aquaculture 7,905 7,931 8,221 8,523 8,835 9,159 9,495 9,672 1.9% 2.9%


Table 5: Average Monthly Salary of Manager Level ICT Professionals by Industry (2009 - 2016)

5,5006,0006,5007,0007,5008,0008,5009,0009,500

10,00010,50011,00011,50012,000

201720162015201420132012201120102009

13.7%11.9%

7.6%6.5%

6.7%6.3%

4.4%7.6%

Growth Rate 13.7% 11.9% 7.6% 6.5% 6.7% 6.3% 4.4% 7.6% 8.2%

Salary 6,163 7,005 7,837 8,434 8,986 9,591 10,195 10,646 11,454

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

AAGR(2009-2016)

Source: Jobstreet.com and PIKOM Estimates Figure 5: Average Monthly Salary of Manager Level ICT Professionals (2009-2017)



Senior Manager Category

The average monthly salary of ICT professionals in the senior manager category was RM18,132, a 6.3% increase compared with RM17,053 in 2015 (See Figure 6). This is the only category among the five position levels that performed better than expected in 2016. PIKOM had projected a 5.8% increase for 2016 for this category. The association is now projecting a 6.9% increase in 2017, with the average monthly salary exceeding the RM19,000 mark. This projected increase is still much lower than the AAGR of 8.4% from 2009 to 2016.

• ICT Salary Trends by Industry 2009-2016: Senior Manager Category

In this category, Computer/IT (Hardware) was ranked top among the 13 industries in terms of the highest annual growth rate with 11.7% (See Table 6). This was followed by Automotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery (8.3%); Banking (8.1%); Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology (7.9%) and Manufacturing (7.8%).

Computer/IT (Hardware) also posted the highest AAGR at 11.5%, followed by Financial Services/Securities/Insurance industry (9.4%) and Education (9.2%).


AAGR (2009-2016)



Banking 9,622 10,203 11,887 13,961 13,961 14,700 15,820 17,095 8.1% 8.7%


Manufacturing 10,275 10,750 13,550 14,150 14,195 14,838 15,737 16,966 7.8% 7.7%


Education 6,563 7,250 8,125 8,850 9,750 10,666 11,408 12,159 6.6% 9.2%







Table 6: Average Month Salary of Senior Manager Level ICT Professionals by Industry (2009 - 2016)

Growth Rate 4.1% 12.7% 12.4% 7.2% 9.5% 6.2% 6.3% 6.9% 8.4%

Salary 10,368 10,795 12,166 13,674 14,661 16,057 17,053 18,132 19,379

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

10,000

11,000

12,000

13,000

14,000

15,000

16,000

17,000

18,000

19,000

20,000

2017201620152014201320122011201020094.1%

12.7%

12.4%7.2%

9.5%6.2%

6.3%6.9%

AAGR(2009-2016)


Figure 6: Average Monthly Salary of Senior Manager Level ICT Professionals (2009-2017)

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TOP PAYING INDUSTRIES BY JOB CATEGORIES

In this section, we will highlight industries that paid top Ringgit for ICT professionals in 2016. First, we will look at the overall picture and then we will zoom in on each of the five job categories. Automotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery, which was the overall fourth highest-paying industry in 2015, emerged as the overall leader in 2016 with an average monthly salary of RM8,952 (See Figure 6). This was followed by Call Centre/IT-Enabled Services/BPO at RM8,822; Transport/Storage/Freight/Shipping at RM8,791; Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology at RM8,760 and Computer/IT (Hardware) at RM8,397.


Automotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery also took pole position as the top paying industry in 2016 for entry level / fresh graduates with an average monthly salary of RM3,615 (See Figure 7). The Electrical & Electronics industry came in second at RM3,279, followed by Banking at RM3,130. The fourth and fifth top-paying industries for this category were respectively Oil/Gas/Petroleum at RM3,117 and Construction/Building/Engineering at RM2,934. With the exception of Construction/Building/Engineering, the four other industries were also in the top five paying group for this job category in 2015.

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Construction/Building/Engineering

Oil/Gas/PetroleumBankingElectrical & ElectronicsAutomotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery

3,6153,279 3,130 3,117 2,934

Figure 7: Entry Level: Top Five Paying Industries in 2016

8000

8200

8400

8600

8800

9000

Computer/IT (Hardware)Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology

Transport/Storage/Freight/Shipping

Call Center/IT-Enabled Services/BPO

Automotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery

8,9528,822 8,791 8,760

8,397

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

Figure 6: Overall: Top Five Paying Industries in 2016




Agriculture/Plantation/Aquaculture was the top paying industry, offering an average monthly salary of RM4,485 in 2016 (See Figure 8). It was also in 2015’s top five paying industries for this category, coming in second.

In 2016, the second spot went to Financial Services/Securities/Insurance at RM4,306, followed by Banking at RM4,305, Semiconductor/Wafer Fabrication at RM4,297 and Consulting (Business/Technical) at RM4,246.


In this category, the top five in 2016 was almost the same as the year before. Oil/Gas/Petroleum, second in 2015, was the top paying industry for senior executives in 2016, offering an average monthly salary of RM8,744 (See Figure 9). This was followed by Agriculture/Plantation/Aquaculture at RM8,173; Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology at RM8,110; and Telecommunication at RM7,794. The fifth spot went to Transport/Storage/Freight/Shipping at RM7,183, which was the new top five entry in 2016.

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

4100

4150

4200

4250

4300

4350

4400

4450

4500

Consulting (Business/Technical)

Semiconductor/Water Fabrication

BankingFinancial Services/Securities/Insurance

Agriculture/Plantation/Aquaculture

4,485

4,306 4,305 4,2974,246

Figure 8: Junior Executive: Top Five Paying Industries in 2016

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000


TelecommunicationScience&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology

Agriculture/Plantation/Aquaculture

Oil/Gas/Petroleum

8,7448,173 8,110 7,794

7,183

Figure 9: Senior Executive: Top Five Paying Industries in 2016


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erag

e M

onth

ly S

alar

y (R

M)

7000

8200

9400

10600

11800

13000

14200

15400


Consuling (Business/Technical)

Oil/Gas/PetroleumWholesale/Retail/TradingElectrical & Electronics

14,532

12,73412,209

10,840 10,720

Figure 10: Manager: Top Five Paying Industries in 2016

Manager Category

Looking at Figure 10, we can see that salaries in the top five paying industries for ICT managers ranged from RM10,720 for the Transport/Storage/Freight/Shipping industry to RM14,532 for the Electrical & Electronics industry.


Four industries in this category offered more than RM20,000 in average monthly salary (See figure 11). In fact, the salary in the Automotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery industry was almost RM21,000. This is the only category where the top five paying industries in 2015 were the same for 2016, although the ranking was different.

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

18500

19000

19500

20000

20500

21000


Science&Technology/Aerospace/BioTechnology

Computer/IT (Hardware)Call Center/IT-Enabled Services/BPO


20,918

20,416 20,36920,225

19,420

Figure 11: Senior Manager: Top Five Paying Industries in 2016



SALARY COMPARISON BETWEEN ICT CORE GROUP AND ICT USER GROUP

In this section, we separated the 22 industries into two groups - ICT Core and ICT User. ICT Core comprises six industries, namely:

• Computer/IT (Hardware);• Computer/IT (Software);• Call Centre/IT Enabled Services/BPO;• Telecommunications;• Electrical & Electronics; and• Semiconductor/Wafer Fabrication.

The remaining 16 industries fall under the ICT User group. In Figure 12, we look at the average monthly salary of each job category in 2016 in both the ICT Core and ICT User groups. We found that there was no distinct difference in the average monthly salary for both groups, although the ICT Core Group had a slight edge over the other.

However when we look at the AAGR from 2009 to 2016, Table 7 tells a different story on the difference in salaries between the two groups for each job category. With the exception of Senior Executive, all job categories in the ICT User group showed a higher AAGR from 2009 to 2016 for average monthly salary.

PERIODICT CORE ICT USER

Entry Level

Junior Executive

Senior Executive Manager Senior

ManagerEntry Level

Junior Executive

Senior Executive Manager Senior

Manager

2009 1,930 2,838 4,504 7,781 11,057 1,892 2,688 4,505 6,890 10,458

2010 2,060 2,925 4,702 8,065 12,097 2,035 2,843 4,573 7,338 11,060

2011 2,214 3,219 5,120 8,680 13,263 2,191 3,144 5,077 7,932 12,315

2012 2,317 3,293 5,392 9,010 14,276 2,294 3,245 5,377 8,242 13,629

2013 2,387 3,401 5,558 9,474 15,041 2,431 3,400 5,649 8,720 14,375

2014 2,626 3,752 6,093 10,011 15,989 2,561 3,664 6,052 9,203 15,096

2015 2,726 3,823 6,428 10,364 16,642 2,667 3,778 6,354 9,587 16,023

2016 2,810 3,949 6,642 10,784 17,734 2,773 3,942 6,612 10,040 17,052

AAGR(2009-2016) 5.55% 4.89% 5.73% 4.78% 7.00% 5.62% 5.65% 5.67% 5.53% 7.26%

Table 7: Average Monthly Salary of each job category in both ICT Core and ICT User groups from 2009-2016

Aver

age

Mon

thly

Sal

ary

(RM

)

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

20000

Senior ManagerManagerSenior LevelJunior LevelEntry Level

2,810 2,773 3,949 3,942

6,642 6,612

10,784 10,040

17,734 17,052ICT Core ICT User

Figure 12: Average Monthly Salary of ICT Professional in ICT Core and User Sectors by Job Position Category: in 2016



Breakdown of ICT Core Group

Looking at the six industries under the ICT Core Group in Table 8, we can see that Computer/IT (Hardware) recorded the highest AAGR at 7.9% in the overall average monthly salary by job categories. The Computer/IT (Hardware) industry also recorded the highest AAGR in the average monthly salary for managers and senior managers (See

Tables 12 and 13). The Electrical & Electronics industry dominated the Entry Level and Senior Level job categories with the highest AAGR in average monthly salary (See Tables 9 and 11). At the Junior Level, Computer/IT (Software) led the other ICT Core industries in recording the highest AAGR at 6.9% in average monthly salary (See Table 10).

Period

Overall

ICT CORE INDUSTRIES

ICT UserCall Center/IT-Enabled

Services/BPOComputer/IT (Hardware)

Computer/IT (Software)

Electrical & Electronics

Semiconductor/Wafer Fabrication Telecommunication

2009 6,162 4,957 4,897 4,758 4,219 5,857 4,827

2010 6,374 5,804 5,079 5,079 4,362 5,889 5,075

2011 6,846 6,227 5,491 5,612 4,693 6,580 5,582

2012 7,258 6,578 5,725 5,912 4,782 6,966 5,934

2013 7,574 7,150 5,999 6,024 4,814 7,177 6,256

2014 8,238 7,477 6,761 6,453 5,094 7,567 6,631

2015 8,470 7,845 7,132 6,647 5,198 7,861 6,949

2016 8,822 8,397 7,318 6,994 5,355 8,217 7,297

AAGR(2009-2016) 5.3% 7.9% 6.0% 5.7% 3.5% 5.0% 6.1%

Table 8: Breakdown of overall average monthly salary for each of the six industries in the ICT Core Group

Period

Entry Level

ICT UserICT CORE INDUSTRIES

Call Center/IT-Enabled Services/

BPOComputer/IT (Hardware)


Electrical & Electronics Telecommunication

2009 2,025 2,072 2,125 1,508 1,918 1,892

2010 2,125 2,155 2,244 1,769 2,008 2,035

2011 2,275 2,213 2,400 2,063 2,120 2,191

2012 2,275 2,368 2,450 2,343 2,150 2,294

2013 2,375 2,385 2,553 2,343 2,280 2,431

2014 2,575 2,485 2,763 2,931 2,375 2,561

2015 2,660 2,541 2,861 3,110 2,457 2,667

2016 2,714 2,607 2,934 3,279 2,518 2,773

AAGR(2009-2016) 4.3% 3.4% 4.7% 12.0% 4.0% 5.6%

Table 9: Breakdown of average monthly salary in Entry Level Category for each of the six industries in the ICT Core Group



Period

Junior Executive


Call Center/IT-Enabled




Semiconductor/Wafer

FabricationTelecommunication

2009 2,825 2,720 2,582 2,865 3,061 2,975 2,688

2010 2,925 2,963 2,750 2,725 3,160 3,025 2,843

2011 3,225 3,002 3,025 3,113 3,700 3,250 3,144

2012 3,225 3,100 3,063 3,228 3,753 3,388 3,245

2013 3,400 3,213 3,275 3,229 3,753 3,538 3,400

2014 3,874 3,350 3,900 3,513 3,963 3,913 3,664

2015 3,913 3,421 3,947 3,582 4,094 3,984 3,778

2016 4,027 3,529 4,074 3,675 4,297 4,094 3,942

AAGR(2009-2016) 5.3% 3.8% 6.9% 3.8% 5.1% 4.7% 5.6%

Table 10: Breakdown of average monthly salary in Junior Executive Category for each of the six industries in the ICT Core Group

Period

Senior Executive






Semiconductor/Wafer Fabrication Telecommunication

2009 3,832 4,315 4,475 3,800 5,377 5,225 4,505

2010 4,428 4,577 4,505 3,915 5,563 5,225 4,573

2011 4,556 4,769 4,769 4,750 5,685 6,193 5,077

2012 4,750 4,835 5,160 5,119 5,810 6,675 5,377

2013 5,054 5,110 5,400 5,233 5,875 6,675 5,649

2014 6,125 5,410 5,999 5,800 6,225 7,000 6,052

2015 6,160 6,038 6,612 6,095 6,303 7,361 6,354

2016 6,423 6,056 6,672 6,490 6,414 7,794 6,612

AAGR(2009-2016) 7.9% 5.0% 5.9% 8.1% 2.6% 6.0% 5.7%

Table 11: Breakdown of average monthly salary in Senior Level Category for each of the six industries in the ICT Core Group

Period

Manager



BPO Computer/IT (Hardware)


Electrical & Electronics Telecommunication

2009 7,688 5,963 6,600 10,860 7,794 6,890

2010 7,258 6,575 6,646 11,908 7,938 7,338

2011 8,453 6,625 7,263 12,521 8,537 7,932

2012 9,025 6,800 7,575 12,956 8,693 8,242

2013 9,025 8,275 7,675 13,293 9,103 8,720

2014 9,782 8,575 8,703 13,569 9,428 9,203

2015 10,096 8,983 9,260 13,802 9,681 9,587

2016 10,529 9,425 9,417 14,532 10,019 10,040

AAGR (2009-2016 4.8% 7.0% 5.3% 4.3% 3.7% 5.5%

Table 12: Breakdown of average monthly salary in Manager Level Category for each of the six industries in the ICT Core Group



Period

Senior Manager



BPOComputer/IT (Hardware)

Computer/IT (Software) Telecommunication

2009 14,438 9,713 8,703 11,375 10,458

2010 15,136 12,751 9,250 11,250 11,060

2011 15,722 14,528 10,000 12,800 12,315

2012 17,013 15,789 10,375 13,925 13,629

2013 18,014 16,767 11,094 14,288 14,375

2014 18,832 17,566 12,439 15,119 15,096

2015 19,523 18,242 12,979 15,824 16,023

2016 20,416 20,369 13,493 16,658 17,052

AAGR (2015-2016 5.1% 11.5% 6.5% 5.7% 7.3%

Table 13: Breakdown of average monthly salary in Senior Manager Category for each of the six industries in the ICT Core Group

TOP HIRING INDUSTRIES BY JOB CATEGORIES

Based on Jobstreet data, there were 11,227 job openings for ICT professionals in all five position levels in the 22 industries that PIKOM tracked for this report. Computer/

IndustryNumber

of Job Openings

Overall Percentage

Computer/IT (Software) 3,662 33%

Consulting (Business&Technical) 1,518 14%

Manufacturing/Production 819 7%

Telecommunication 777 7%

Computer/IT (Hardware) 622 6%

Call Center/IT-Enabled Services/BPO 610 5%

Banking 540 5%

Electrical & Electronics 478 4%

OTHERS 2,201 20%

Total 11,227 100%

Table 14: Job openings in top hiring industries 2016

IT (Software) led the other 21 industries with 3,662 job openings, accounting for 33% of the total number (See Chart 1 and Table 14). It was the top hiring industry in all job categories. The majority of the job openings in each of the categories were offered by ICT Core industries. Let’s explore each job category further.

Computer/IT(Software)

33%

Consulting(Business&Technical)

14%Manufacturing/Production

Telecommunication

7%

Computer/IT(Hardware)


5%

Banking

5%OTHERS

20%Electrical &Electronics

6%

4%

7%Chart 1: Top hiring industries 2016




There were 910 jobs offered for Entry Level ICT professionals in 2016. The Computer/IT (Software) industry offered more than a third of the job openings (See Chart 2 and Table 15). Three other ICT Core industries were the next biggest hirers, namely, Consulting (Business & Technical) with 124 jobs, Call Centre/IT-Enabled Services/BPO industry with 93 jobs and Computer/IT (Hardware) with 69 jobs.


There were 4,411 job openings for this category in 2016, recording the second highest number of jobs in all five categories. Again, more than a third of the job openings were offered by the Computer/IT (Software) industry (See Chart 3 and Table 16). This was followed by Consulting (Business & Technical) at 13%; Manufacturing/Production at 9%; Telecommunication at 6% and Computer/IT (Hardware) at 5%.

Industry # of Job Openings

% in Total Job

Openings

Computer/IT (Software) 328 36%

Consulting (Business&Technical) 124 14%




Others 240 26%

Total 910 100%

Table 15: Job openings in top hiring industries for Entry Level ICT professionals 2016


% in Total Job

Openings

Computer/IT (Software) 1,500 34%





Others 1,496 34%

Total 4,411 100%

Table 16: Job openings in top hiring industries for Junior Executive Level ICT professionals 2016


36%


14%Call Centre/IT-Enabled Services/BPO

Manufacturing/Production

6%Computer/IT(Hardware)

OTHERS

26%

8%

10%


34%


13%Manufacturing/Production


5%

Telecommunication

6%

OTHERS

34%

9%Chart 2: Top hiring industries for Entry Level ICT professionals 2016 Chart 3: Top hiring industries for Junior Executive Level ICT

professionals 2016




This category registered the most number of job openings (4,528) offered by the 22 industries in 2016 (See Chart 4 and Table 17). Once again, the Computer/IT (Software) industry was the top hirer with just over a third of the total number of job openings. The other five industries in the ICT Core Group – Consulting (Business & Technical), Computer/IT (Hardware), Telecommunication, Call Centre/IT-Enabled Services/BPO and Electrical & Electronics collectively offered more than 1,700 jobs.

Manager Category

In 2016, this category offered more than 1,100 jobs with Computer/IT Software (about 24%) as the top hiring industry followed by Banking (13%), Consulting (Business & Technical)(12%) and Telecommunication (8%) (See Chart 5 and Table 18).


% in Total Job

Openings








Banking 180 4%

Others 819 18%

Total 4528 100%

Table 17: Job openings in top hiring industries for Senior Executive Level ICT professionals 2016


% in Total Job

Openings


Banking 152 13%






Financial Services/Securities/Insurance

49 4%


43 4%

Wholesale/Retail/Trading 42 4%


Others 113 10%

Total 1167 100%

Table 18: Job openings in top hiring industries for Manager Level ICT professionals 2016


33%

Consulting(Business & Technical)

14%Telecommunication

8%


6%

Banking

4% OTHERS

18%Computer/IT(Hardware) 6%

Electrical &Electronics 4%

Manufacturing/Production 6%


24%Telecommunication

8% Banking

13%

OTHERS

10%Computer/IT(Hardware) 6%Financial Services/

Securities/Insurance4%

Electrical &Electronics 4%Wholesale/

Retail/Trading 4%Automotive/Heavy Industry/Machinery 4%

Manufacturing/Production 7%


Services/BPO6%

Consulting(Business & Technical)12%

Chart 4: Top hiring industries for Senior Executive Level ICT professionals 2016

Chart 5: Top hiring industries for Manager Level ICT professionals 2016




Compared with the other four job categories, the Senior Manager category received the least number of job openings (211) in 2016. But in this case, all the top hirers were from the industries in the ICT Core Group with the exception of Banking, namely Computer/IT (Software) (26%); Consulting (Business & Technical) (18%); Telecommunications (11%); Call Centre/IT-Enabled Services/BPO (10%) and Computer/IT (Hardware) (7%) (See Chart 6 and Table 19).

HIRING TRENDS BY POSITION LEVEL

Close to 80% of jobs openings for ICT professionals in 2016 were in the Junior Executive Level and Senior Executive Level categories. There were more than 8,600 jobs offered in these two job categories out of a total 11,277 jobs posted in 22 industries. (See Chart 7 and Table 20).


% in Total Job

Openings





Banking 21 10%


Others 37 18%

Total 211 100%

Table 19: Job openings in top hiring industries for Senior Manager Level ICT professionals 2016


26%

Consulting(Business & Technical)

18%

Call Centre/IT-Enabled Services/BPO

Telecommunication

11%


OTHERS

18%

Banking

10%

7%

10%

Chart 6: Top hiring industries for Senior Manager Level ICT professionals 2016

Position level Number of Jobs

% in total job

openings

Entry level 910 8%

Junior Executive 4,411 39%

Senior Executive 4,528 40%

Manager 1,167 11%

Senior Manager 211 2%

Grand Total 11,227 100.00%

Table 20: Job openings for position levels 2016

Entry level

8% Junior Executive

39%

Manager

11%Senior Executive

40%

Senior Manager

2%

Chart 7: Job openings for position levels 2016



A comparison of the job openings in 2015 and 2016 showed a significant drop of almost 40% in the overall job category of 22 industries. If we look at Figure 13, all individual job categories showed a drop in number of job openings. The Entry Level Category experienced the biggest drop at almost 60% (See Table 21).

REGIONAL BENCHMARKING AMONG COUNTRIES AND CITIES

In this section, we benchmarked the salary of an IT Project Manager in Malaysia against the job position holder in 15 countries from different regions. The comparison was done using both Atlas Criterion and PPP-adjusted benchmarking scales. We would like to acknowledge Payscale.com, for their wealth of valuable online resources. We derived the salary of the IT Project Manager from Payscale under four job categories - entry level, mid-career, experienced and late-career.

The PPP benchmarking scale was adjusted to take into account inflation rates and fluctuation in the foreign exchange rate while the Atlas Criterion was without the PPP adjustment.

PPP-adjusted figures are considered a more realistic comparison than the Atlas Criterion.

Comparison of Salary of an IT Project Manager between Different Countries

The Regional Benchmarking comparison (Table 22) showed that in the Atlas Criterion scale, the salary of the IT Project Manager at the entry level in the US was 3.56 times more than in Malaysia. The US ranked the highest in all four job categories among the 15 countries, which also includes Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, the Philippines, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the UK. Australia was ranked second with a ratio of 3.40, followed by the UAE at 2.97 for the same entry level category.

Position level 2015 2016 Changes

Entry level 2203 910 -58.69%

Junior Executive 6932 4411 -36.37%

Senior Executive 6953 4528 -34.88%

Manager 1825 1167 -36.05%

Senior Manager 336 211 -37.20%

Overall Job Openings 18,249 11,227 -38.48%

Table 21: Comparison of job openings in 2015 and 2016

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

Overall Job OpeningsSenior ManagerManagerSenior LevelJunior LevelEntry Level

2,203910

6,932

4,411

6,953

4,528

1,825 1,167 336 211

18,249

11,227

20152016

Source: Jobstreet.comFigure 13: Comparison of job openings in 2015 and 2016



However, in the PPP-adjusted benchmarking scale (Table 23), the salary ratio an IT Project Manager in Hong Kong against that in Malaysia was 1.80, which was the highest among the 15 countries. This was followed by the UAE at 1.55 and Australia at 1.46. The entry level IT Project Manager in the US was 1.3 times more than in Malaysia.

Comparison of Salary of an IT Project Manager between Cities

We compared the salary of an IT Project Manager in Kuala Lumpur against 73 other cities in the world, including two others in Klang Valley – Petaling Jaya and Cyberjaya. The

Countries

Project Manager, Information Technology

Atlas Criterion

entry mid-career experienced late career

Australia 3.40 4.07 4.40 5.13

Canada 2.58 3.08 3.44 3.63

Egypt 0.28 0.41 0.49 -

France 2.26 2.66 2.91 3.88

Germany 2.78 3.51 3.95 4.10

Hong Kong 2.41 4.00 3.93 5.19

India 0.47 0.93 1.19 1.55

Malaysia 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

New Zealand 2.68 3.34 3.60 3.78

Saudi Arabia 2.39 2.97 3.19 4.87

Singapore 2.41 3.01 3.41 3.96

South Africa 1.26 1.93 2.36 2.69

The Philippines 0.61 1.06 1.25 1.26

United Arab Emirates 2.97 3.51 3.96 4.79

United Kingdom 2.36 3.04 3.40 3.47

United States 3.56 4.42 5.01 5.43

Table 22: Atlas Criterion comparison of salary of an IT Project Manager in different countries 2016

Countries

Project Manager, Information Technology

PPP-adjusted

entry mid-career experienced late career

Australia 1.46 1.33 1.12 1.18

Canada 1.09 0.99 0.86 0.82

Egypt 0.34 0.38 0.35

France 0.93 0.83 0.70 0.85

Germany 1.23 1.19 1.03 0.98

Hong Kong 1.80 2.29 1.74 2.09

India 0.33 0.50 0.49 0.58

Malaysia 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

New Zealand 0.56 0.55 0.48 0.44

Saudi Arabia 1.38 1.31 1.09 1.51

Singapore 1.11 1.06 0.93 0.98

South Africa 1.19 1.39 1.32 1.36

The Philippines 0.42 0.56 0.51 0.47

United Arab Emirates 1.55 1.40 1.22 1.35

United Kingdom 1.09 1.07 0.92 0.86

United States 1.30 1.23 1.08 1.06

Table 23: PPP-adjusted comparison of salary of an IT Project Manager in different countries 2016



comparison was also made using the Atlas Criterion and PPP-adjusted benchmarking scales. This time, only the average annual salary in USD of an IT Project Manager was compared regardless of the job category of the professional between one country and Malaysia.

In the Atlas Criterion benchmarking scale, Kuala Lumpur was at 54th, meaning 53 other cities worldwide recorded a higher salary for IT Project managers. All the top five spots went to cities in United States. Interestingly,

Cyberjaya was just ahead of Kuala Lumpur at 53rd in this Atlas Criterion benchmarking scale (See Table 24).

In the PPP-adjusted benchmarking scale, Kuala Lumpur was ranked 39th, meaning 38 other cities recorded higher salary for IT Project managers (See Table 25). And once again, Cyberjaya sprung a surprise as it was among these 38 cities, coming in at 35th. Three Middle East cities were in the top five with Abu Dhabi emerging 1st, Riyadh at 3rd and Dubai at 5th behind Washington DC.

Table 24: Atlas Criterion comparison of average annual salary (in USD) of an IT Project Manager in different cities 2016

Cities Average Annual Salary of IT Project Manager Atlas Criterion

1 Washington DC 100,863 3.95

2 New York 99,767 3.91

3 Los Angeles 94,216 3.69

4 Chicago 92,279 3.61

5 Houston 91,953 3.60

6 Perth 88,676 3.47

7 Boston 88,520 3.47

8 Dallas 87,587 3.43

9 Atlanta 86,975 3.41

10 Philadelphia 85,650 3.36

11 Minneapolis 85,495 3.35

12 San Diego 83,976 3.29

13 Denver 83,000 3.25

14 Phoenix 82,837 3.25

15 Austin 82,097 3.22

16 Seattle 81,186 3.18

17 Abu Dhabi 80,914 3.17

18 Sydney 80,338 3.15

19 Melbourne 76,919 3.01

20 Brisbane 76,409 2.99

21 Gold Coast 75,466 2.96

22 Canberra 75,271 2.95

23 Dubai 70,292 2.75

24 Calgary 68,712 2.69

25 Reading 66,549 2.61

26 Auckland 66,205 2.59

27 London 64,658 2.53

28 Riyadh 64,255 2.52

29 Ottawa 64,126 2.51

30 Adelaide 63,597 2.49

31 Toronto 62,422 2.45

32 Edmonton 61,777 2.42

33 Hamilton 61,135 2.39

34 Singapore 59,629 2.34

35 Nottingham 58,657 2.30

36 Mississauga 58,385 2.29

37 Vancouver 57,428 2.25

Cities Average Annual Salary of IT Project Manager Atlas Criterion

38 Wellington 56,852 2.23

39 Montreal 56,472 2.21

40 Halifax 55,484 2.17

41 London, Ontario 55,472 2.17

42 Winnipeg 54,228 2.12

43 Birmingham 53,916 2.11

44 Quebec City 52,783 2.07

45 Christchurch 51,701 2.03

46 Glasgow 51,009 2.00

47 Jeddah 50,995 2.00

48 Manchester 47,473 1.86

49 Belfast 46,329 1.81

50 Leeds 45,835 1.80

51 Edinburgh 44,916 1.76

52 Johor Baru 27,181 1.06

53 Cyberjaya 26,910 1.05

54 Kuala Lumpur 25,527 1.00

55 Pune 22,373 0.88

56 Bangalore 22,365 0.88

57 Gurgaon 22,365 0.88

58 Petaling Jaya 22,151 0.87

59 Jakarta 21,610 0.85

60 Noida 21,241 0.83

61 Hyderabad 20,483 0.80

62 Manila 19,946 0.78

63 Mumbai 19,687 0.77

64 Makati 19,641 0.77

65 Chennai 19,467 0.76

66 Cebu 19,250 0.75

67 Trivandrum 18,682 0.73

68 Kolkata 18187 0.71

69 Mandaluyong 17,136 0.67

70 Quezon City 16,844 0.66

71 Taguig City 15,015 0.59

72 New Delhi 14,417 0.56

73 Ahmedabad 12,864 0.50

74 Pasig City 12,543 0.49



Table 25: PPP-adjusted comparison of average annual salary (in USD) of an IT Project Manager in different cities 2016

City Average Salary of IT Project Manager PPP

1 Abu Dhabi 115,678 1,65

2 Perth 104,562 1.49

3 Riyadh 101,612 1.45

4 Washington DC 100,863 1.44

5 Dubai 100,498 1.44

6 New York 99,767 1.43

7 Sydney 94,730 1.35

8 Los Angeles 94,216 1.35

9 Chicago 92,279 1.32

10 Houston 91,953 1.31

11 Melbourne 90,699 1.30

12 Brisbane 90,098 1.29

13 Gold Coast 88,986 1.27

14 Canberra 88,756 1.27

15 Boston 88,520 1.27

16 Dallas 87,587 1.25

17 Atlanta 86,975 1.24

18 Philadelphia 85,650 1.22

19 Minneapolis 85,495 1.22

20 Reading 83,976 1.20

21 San Diego 83,976 1.20

22 Denver 83,000 1.19

23 Phoenix 82,837 1.18

24 Austin 82,097 1.17

25 London 81,590 1.17

26 Seattle 81,186 1.16

27 Jeddah 80,644 1.15

28 Auckland 80,563 1.15

29 Calgary 79,433 1.14

30 Singapore 75,659 1.08

31 Adelaide 74,990 1.07

32 Johor Baru 74,509 1.06

33 Ottawa 74,131 1.06

34 Nottingham 74.018 1.06

35 Cyberjaya 73,767 1.05

36 Toronto 72,161 1.03

37 Edmonton 71,415 1.02

City Average Salary of IT Project Manager PPP

38 Hamilton 70,673 1.01

39 Kuala Lumpur 69,975 1.00

40 Wellington 69,180 0.99

41 Birmingham 68,035 0.97

42 Mississauga 67,494 0.96

43 Vancouver 66,388 0.95

44 Montreal 65,283 0.93

45 Glasgow 64,367 0.92

46 Halifax 64,141 0.92

47 London, Ontario 64,127 0.92

48 Christchurch 62,913 0.90

49 Winnipeg 62,688 0.90

50 Quebec City 61,019 0.87

51 Petaling Jaya 60,720 0.87

52 Manchester 59,905 0.86

53 Belfast 58,462 0.84

54 Leeds 57,838 0.83

55 Edinburgh 56,679 0.81

56 Jakarta 46,978 0.67

57 Bangalore 43,092 0.62

58 Pune 42,775 0.61

59 Gurgaon 42,758 0.61

60 Noida 40,610 0.58

61 Hyderabad 39,160 0.56

62 Manila 37,844 0.54

63 Mumbai 37,638 0.54

64 Makati 37,266 0.53

65 Chennai 37,317 0.53

66 Cebu 36,523 0.52

67 Trivandrum 35,718 0.51

68 Kolkata 34,770 0.50

69 Mandaluyang City 32,513 0.46

70 Quezon City 31,958 0.46

71 Taguig City 28,488 0.41

72 New Delhi 27,564 0.39

73 Ahmedabad 24,595 0.35

74 Pasig City 23,797 0.34


The JOBSTREET.COM Employment Confidence Index (JECI) is a measure of a jobseeker’s confidence in getting a job. It ranges from a scale of 0 to 100 to indicate very poor to very good.

A low index implies a tough job market while a high index reflects a comfortable situation where many good jobs can be secured.

The index fluctuates with time and its trend is an important indication of the production and economic development of the nation. The jobseekers are asked to

answer this one question: “What are the chances of securing a reasonable job in the Malaysian job market today?”

The average JECI data, tabulated since 2001, showed a drop since 2013 (Figure 1). The index indicated that jobseekers were less confident of getting a job in 2016 than in 2015. The average JECI was 38.4 in 2016 as compared with 42.3 in 2015. The index for each of the first three months of this year was lower than the average JECI in 2016. The readings for January, February and March are 32.9, 36.3 and 32.1 respectively.

JOB EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK PERCEPTION

SECTION D


SECTION D: JOB EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK PERCEPTION

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Octo Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

April 2016 - March 2017 (JECI) 36.5 40.8 42.7 37.5 40.1 39.5 36.8 39.6 41.1 32.9 36.3 32.1

April 2015 - March 2016 (JECI) 43.2 43.5 44.8 38.8 40.7 39.8 41.1 40.7 37.4 36.6 35.9 33.4

April 2016 - March 2017 (Unemployment)

3.5 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.4

April 2015 - March 2016 (Unemployment)

3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.1 3.3 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.5

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Source: Jobstreet.com and Department of Statistics, Malaysia

FIGURE 2: Comparison of Jobstreet.com Employment Confidence Index (JECI) between April 2016-March 2017 and JECI (April 2015-March 2016 against unemployment rates in the same period

30

35

40

45

50

55

2016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004200320022001

36.134.1

33.6

45.245.8

50.1

50.449.3

47.7

51.2 51.6

48.8

50.3

47.5

42.3

38.4

FIGURE 1: Jobstreet.com Employment Confidence Index (JECI) from 2001-2016


SECTION D: JOB EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK PERCEPTION

The JECI for the first three months of 2017 also indicated that job seekers are less confident of securing a job this year.

However, we may see an improvement in terms of the job employment climate in the second quarter of this year.

The monthly unemployment rate in Malaysia has hovered at 3.5% since December 2016 but it dipped by 0.1% to 3.4 in March 2017. Close to 20,000 jobs were added in March compared with February. Furthermore, the number of unemployed people also decreased by 4,000, from 514,800 in February.

Persatuan Industri Komputer Dan Multimedia Malaysia(The National ICT Association of Malaysia)

E1, Empire Damansara,No. 2, Jalan PJU 8/8a, Damansara Perdana47820 Petaling Jaya, SelangorT : +(603) 4065 0078 F : +(603) 4065 0079 E+ : [email protected] W+ : www.pikom.org.my

PIKOM, the National ICT Association of Malaysia, is a not-for-profit organisation. It is the largest association representing information and communications technology (ICT) players in Malaysia. Since its inception in 1986, PIKOM has come of age as the voice of the ICT industry. It has become an ICT referral centre for government and industry players, as well as international organisations. In this regard, PIKOM takes on the responsibility to publish ICT-relevant information in a periodic manner.

Editorial and design services by: MJLAIKC INFOWORKS | Tel: 6012 5050862 | E: [email protected] by: Era Konsep Sdn Bhd | Tel: 603 6272 4024 | E: [email protected]

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