by Marloes van den Berg
5th Aug, 2020
Most of us have adapted to a ‘new normal’
with the current set of challenges that Covid-19 has posed. And whilst we have
seen a general slowdown in hiring across a range of different functional areas
and industries, one fact remains unchanged and that is there is still an
uptrend when it comes to recruitment within the IT and Digital space.
Covid-19 has proven that companies who do
not embrace digital and business technology and who still adopt obsolete
practices of engaging with customers tend to suffer. Traditional industries
such as Retail, FMCG, and Hospitality appreciate the importance of boosting sales
revenue via Digital, eCommerce and social media initiatives and hence are
hiring positions in these particular areas, especially because they are unable
to attract the same amount of foot traffic as they used to in the past.
Brick and mortar retailers such as Marks
& Spencer and Sephora are now offering attractive deals especially to
first time users of their online shopping platform and mobile apps, and thus
this has led to an increase in demand for positions such as Mobile App
Developers, UX & UI Designer, Web Programmers etc.
As Hong Kong’s Fintech talent is not on par with some of its Asian counterparts such as Singapore, and with the view of
maintaining Hong Kong’s position as an international Finance hub, the Hong Kong Government
has announced a US$15.5 million subsidy plan to encourage companies to hire
1,000 Fintech professionals under two conditions. Firstly, companies can hire
one Fintech professional and apply for a subsidy of HK$10,000 per month for a
period of one year and secondly, candidates must be Hong Kong residents and the
applying companies must be registered in Hong Kong. This initiative will encourage the
hiring of positions such as Blockchain Developers, Compliance Specialists,
Product Managers, Quant Analysts etc.
Some very hot jobs in 2020 are for
Data Engineers, Network Security Engineers, Cloud Architects, DevOps Engineers and Cybersecurity professionals. Microsoft reported a strong growth in
sales driven by the demand in the cloud computing services as customers are
working online due to the current pandemic. And as many companies are focusing
their operations on cloud infrastructure we therefore would see a demand for
talents who have experience in the cloud environment.
By Varsha Mankani and Anushyia Vejayarajah
