Asia Pacific Banking Salary Increases to Slow in 2017, but Pay for Digital Roles to Hold Firm -- Willis Towers Watson Study

HONG KONG, CHINA--(Marketwired - Nov 28, 2016) - A combination of fresh salary budget data for the coming year and industry sector feedback points to a shortage of tech talent in the financial sector, which is helping salary budgets for talent in digital roles hold steady amid broader weakness across other industries, particularly the banking sector, according to leading global advisory, broking and solutions company Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW).

Business in all its forms is becoming more data- and technology-driven, and banking is no exception -- increasingly it's a fusion of finance and technology. In the competition for talent, it is technology rather than finance that increasingly holds sway. That's where the shortage lies -- the pressure point that's holding tech salaries steady while others slide. 

Survey findings released today by Willis Towers Watson, drawn from its 2016 Asia Pacific Salary Budget Planning Report, show banking salary budget increases for 2017 are set to be well below those in the tech sector, and also below those of the financial services sector as a whole.

The findings show that salaries in Asia Pacific's banking sector are set to grow by 4.8% in 2017, the second slowest rate of salary growth among industry sectors in the survey. Eleven of the markets in the region have banking pay increases ranked among the bottom three in cross-industry comparison.

"The data, allied with what we're hearing on-the-ground, shows that as traditional banks move services online in the hope of staying competitive, by better meeting customers' evolving demands via digital transformation, they are competing for the same pool of skills as the traditional high-tech sector," said Sambhav Rakyan, Data Services Practice Leader, Asia Pacific, at Willis Towers Watson.

Hong Kong, Singapore Tech Salary Rises to Outstrip Banking Ones 

Banking salaries in the financial hubs of China, Hong Kong and Singapore are projected to grow by 6.3%, 3.6% and 3.0% respectively in 2017, well below the expected high-tech salary growth rates of 7.5% for China and 4% for both Hong Kong and Singapore. 

"What the data is telling us is that, amid a general slowdown in the banking sector and more broadly across the financial services sector, salaries for digital roles within the financial sector are holding steady," Mr Rakyan said. "It doesn't mean tech talent will necessarily get more in a monetary sense, but it does in percentage terms."