Gary Mullan of Ireland-based Prosperity Recruitment said he sees great resilience in the digital sector. However, salaries will stagnate at around 3pc this year.
SMEs have once-in-a-lifetime access to new tech talent as a result of the Big Tech layoffs that have been affecting Ireland’s workforce in recent months.
Tech workers, meanwhile, may find themselves slightly on the back foot in terms of salary due to factors such as the crypto winter, layoffs and employers generally hiring in a more conservative manner.
That’s according to a survey of more than 900 people working in the digital and technology sectors in Ireland by Prosperity Recruitment. The latest edition of the Irish-headquartered company’s annual Digital Salary and Employment survey presented a cautiously optimistic vision for the hiring market here.
Salaries will see modest increases under the 3pc margin on average across most categories. Only web development roles will be increasing more than 6pc in 2023.
The average salary for workers in the Irish digital sector is €60,000. The highest paid roles are CTO (up to €180,000); director of marketing (up to €150,000); followed by head of e-commerce, head of SEO, and creative directors (all up to €120,000).
While salaries for many are somewhat stagnant, other employee benefits such as flexible working and four-day weeks remain strong. Employers are willing to make concessions to retain talent. Prosperity Recruitment’s 2022 survey predicted this.
With salaries still the number one motivating factor for workers wanting to change jobs in 2023, employers will need to watch what they offer.
Prosperity Recruitment found that 81pc of employees no longer accept non-hybrid working arrangements.
The second and third highest motivating factors for job changes were career progression and fully remote working conditions.
This means that SME employers that cannot meet the salary offers of some of the Big Tech companies need to remain competitive regarding other benefits when hiring.
Economic headwinds will limit workers’ access to high pay, but they should keep doing what they are doing and ride the current situation out, said Gary Mullan, director of Prosperity Recruitment.
“Companies are a lot more cautious,” Mullan said of the current employment market. He said that while SMEs are hiring they are not matching the salaries the Big Tech companies can offer.
“Everything is quite transient at the moment. I think if people can just be patient or just stick at it, keep going, keep working, then I’d say we’ll start seeing an upward trend again where the market starts getting really busy.”
Mullan told SiliconRepublic.com that the survey was not negative but it was realistic.
“The market is definitely going to bounce back. I honestly believe that a lot of companies that are letting people go will be hiring again, probably within nine months.”
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