Overview

In 2023, we’re seeing the immense salary growth of the past few years start to plateau and salaries begin to stabilise. However, with tech skills remaining in high demand, there are a few roles where candidates can expect to earn more.

Salary Growth Areas

Despite a slowing market, we’re continuing to see salary growth across several job specialisations. Globally, tech salaries and contract rates have increased 15-20% since 2022.

The biggest permanent salary increases can be seen in the Security arena with average salary growth of 20% over the past year. The same is true for Infrastructure, particularly Cloud Infrastructure, with significant salary growth and demand for Architects and Designers in this space. Digital, Data Analytics and Business Intelligence roles are not far behind, with 17% average growth, followed closely by Development roles which have seen a 15% average increase.

When it comes to contract rates, we’re primarily seeing movement across Infrastructure positions, once again, largely in the Cloud Infrastructure space, with rates up 20% on average since 2022. Testing, Project Services and Data Analytics roles have also seen an uptick, with 15-20% average rate growth within these job specialisations over the past year.

We are seeing strong demand and salary growth for people who are coming from the Architecture and Design side of Cloud Infrastructure, more specifically with Microsoft skillsets. Microsoft continues to gain market share in the Cloud space and Power Apps continues to grow, claiming market share in the low code space. The growth in salaries remains particularly high because of this.

Alan Dowdall, Talent Sydney Practice Manager

Although there are skill and talent shortages across the board, the market is fiercely competitive for engineers/analysts and BI developers.

Kara Smith, Talent NZ Country Manager

Permanent salaries and contract rates [have begun] to plateau after the huge increases we saw between mid-2020 to mid-2022. Skill sets in high demand and short supply such as Cyber and Software Development have bucked the trend with rates still rising.

Matthew Munson, Talent Sydney Managing Director

Industry Growth Areas

Across the regions Talent operates in globally, the industries with the highest demand for tech talent include:

  • Financial Services
  • Mining & Utilities
  • Renewable Energy
  • Hospital & Health Care
  • Government / Public Sector
  • Higher Education

Source: Talent data & LinkedIn Talent Insights

Now that COVID border restrictions have been largely removed, the travel & tourism, logistics and higher education sectors will also be very active technology employment markets.

Keith Dixon, Talent Brisbane Managing Director

Public Sector, Financial Services, Tertiary Education and Engineering, Construction, Mining & Utilities are areas that are experiencing significant digital growth.

Matthew Munson, Talent Sydney Managing Director

There was strong hiring demand for candidates with technology skill sets in the Government sector in 2021, and we anticipate this will continue in 2022

Lauren Fyfe, Talent Canberra Senior Account Manager

It goes without saying, there is a huge demand across Australia and globally for technical talent, with companies across all industries needing to up their game in terms of digital offerings in the aftermath of the pandemic. I'm also seeing a lot of new companies and scale ups being born out of emerging technologies and industries, for example, crypto, the metaverse, AI technology, and cloud.

Kiri Evans, Sydney Talent Acquisition Consultant, on client site through Talent Solutions

In the marketing space we are seeing inflated salaries due to a candidate shortage caused by less talent coming into the country over the past few years. This particularly applies to Growth and Performance Marketers who are in high demand and are asking for increased salaries to reflect this.

Claire Wright, Talent Acquisition Consultant, on client site through Talent Solutions

Salary Predictions

The past few years have seen tech salaries reach unprecedented heights as we navigated a candidate-short market and companies engaged in fierce competition to attract and retain top talent. So, what does 2023 have in store? Given a rise in the cost of living globally and a growth in tech layoffs, will candidates continue to have the upper hand or will the scales start to tip in favour of employers? Here’s what our recruitment experts have to say:

Although highly skilled tech talent will still be in a strong position to negotiate with employers, it is likely that we’ll see a reduction in some of the eye-watering salary expectations we were seeing 12 months ago.

Kiri Evans, Senior Talent Acquisition Partner, Australia, on client site through Talent Solutions

Whilst there seems to be a slight softening in the larger technology employment markets such as Sydney and Melbourne, there is no evidence of this being the case in QLD. Contract rates and permanent salaries have increased on average by 23% for technology related positions in QLD compared to pre-COVID figures and it looks likely that these premiums will continue in the first half of 2023.

Keith Dixon, Talent Brisbane Managing Director

It’s clear that candidates continue to hold the power. With tech skills only growing in demand, candidates still have lots of room to negotiate, and although employers are opting to be more conservative when hiring, those with coveted tech skills are still highly sought after. If you want to get ahead and win the competition for top talent, you need to be aware of and deliver on what your candidates want.

Find out more

Candidate Salary Expectations

Although candidates are seeking more than a paycheque from their employers, the impact of rising inflation can’t be overlooked. In 2023, salary (on top of work-life balance) is a key driver for many:

Over the last two years, candidates have had a strong focus on having that right work-life balance especially around flexi hours and working from home. With prices rising at the supermarket, the petrol pump and everywhere in-between and not to mention recent public sector pay freezes, it is no surprise that growing their base salary is the key driver for many candidates in the market.

Jodephine Kemspon profile picture

Josephine Kempson,
Senior Candidate Manager,
Talent Wellington

Salary is still top of mind and an important factor as we continue to see a rise in the cost of living.

Kara Smith profile picture

Kara Smith,
Country Manger,
Talent NZ

Within the Public Sector, contract is buoyant with no reduction in contract rates. In fact, I have seen rates increasing due to contractors needing more money due to the cost of living crisis and IR35.

Sarah Bellis profile picture

Sarah Bellis,
Talent UK Public Sector Director & Talent Consulting Director

Pay transparency

When it comes to pay, candidates are also increasingly seeking transparency. So much so that 85% of candidates, according to a survey of over 1,200 US workers, would be more likely to apply for a job that lists a pay range as opposed to one that doesn’t. Insights from this same survey revealed that 1 in 20 would resign if discovering that co-workers earn more money for the same role while 63% would request equal pay. Legislation requiring employers to inform team members of the pay range for their current role as well as to cite pay ranges on all job listings is driving this demand for transparency further. 

Honesty is the best policy

If you want to bring the best in tech on board and retain your top performers, transparency is important. However, where it’s not legislated, consider what level of information best suits your company and culture. Will you share market averages or exact pay rates, and how will you go about this? If you’re not ready to disclose exact numbers yet, it’s important to be open about how salaries are determined. Be clear on whether tenure, experience and other factors play a role, and be fair with your offers. 

Honesty about your decision-making process when it comes to pay can go a long way in attracting and retaining those top candidates.

Explore the data

To uncover what’s happening in your market and what you can do to get ahead, click through to your region for our local market insights:

AUS

The tech hiring landscape is changing, yet demand remains high for those with the right digital and tech skillsets. We break down what’s happening in each major Australian market.

Learn more

DE

Germany is a European powerhouse. Explore how the nation’s capital is rapidly becoming a mecca for European startups and discover what’s new on the Berlin tech scene.

Learn more

NZ

Tech talent is in demand in New Zealand. Navigating continued skills shortages, those who possess the right skills hold all the power. Discover what’s happening across NZ’s major tech hubs.

Learn more

UK

In another year of uncertainty, how has the tech market held up? Find out what’s happening in the tech hiring market across each region in the UK.

Learn more

US

From the East Coast to the West Coast, we uncover the latest tech insights across the US while we explore the continued impact of the pandemic on the hiring market.

Learn more

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