Result of ZDNet Asia IT Salary Benchmark 2009

ZDNet Asia has conducted an online survey between October 2008 and May 2009 to gain insights into salary trends and IT workforce across 8 economies in Asia region, namely China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The study polled a total of 21,627 respondents from various sectors including government, healthcare, IT, services, telecommunications, legal and finance. Here are some of the analysis results based on their feedback.

Ranking of average annual salary by region:

• Hong Kong (US$66,140)
• Singapore (US$45,341)
• Thailand (US$20,154)
• Malaysia (US$18,350)
• China (US$14,441)
• India (US$11,880)
• Philippines (US$8,448)
• Indonesia (US$6,398)

In Malaysia, respondents who held IT management responsibilities in the IT, Web and telecommunications industry were the highest paid, pulling in an average salary of RM102,280 a year.

The average annual salary of the top 10 most popular IT skills in Malaysia are:

• Consulting/Business services (RM82,037)
  
• Enterprise applications (RM77,407)
  
• Application development (RM69,530)
• Database management (RM69,774)
  
• IT security (RM67,115)
  
• Servers/Networking (RM65,422)
  
• Systems administration (RM64,455)
  
• Operating systems (RM63,710)
  
• Desktops/Software (RM62,792)
• Web development (RM61,894)

In Singapore, respondents who held IT management responsibilities in the legal and finance industry were the highest paid, pulling in an average salary of S$103,598 a year.

The average annual salary of the top 10 most popular IT skills in Singapore are:

• Consulting/Business services (S$83,103)
  
• Enterprise applications (S$78,829)
  
• Infrastructure management (S$76,043)
  
• Application development (S$70,227)
• Database management (S$67,760)
  
• Operating systems (S$67,155)
• Servers/Networking (S$64,800)
  
• Systems administration (S$64,506)
• Web development (S$63,395)
  
• Desktops/Software (S$61,515)

Whereas in Hong Kong, respondents who held IT management responsibilities in the legal and finance industry were the highest paid, pulling in an average salary of HK$824,052 a year.

The average annual salary of the top 10 most popular IT skills in Hong Kong are:

• Infrastructure management (HK$587,132)
  
• Consulting/Business services (HK$583,985)
  
• Enterprise applications (HK$566,628)
  
• IT security (HK$556,399)
  
• Application development (HK$529,132)
• Systems administration (HK$510,840)
• Servers/Networking (HK$503,710)
• Operating systems (HK$502,625)
  
• Database management (HK$497,579)
  
• Desktops/Software (HK$491,515)

For other regions, respondents with the highest paid are from the following job positions:

• China - IT management in the legal and finance industry (RMB244,000)
• India - IT management in the IT, Web and telecommunications industry (984,723 rupees)
• Thailand - IT professionals from the legal and finance industry (1.2 million baht)
  
• Philippines - IT management in the legal and finance industry (671,559 pesos)
• Indonesia - IT management in the legal and finance industry (132.33 million rupiah)

As a conclusion, if you are heading for a high pay IT career, it is wise to get into consulting/business services and/or enterprise applications. Industry wise, the legal and finance industry in the region are generally paying more to their IT staff than those in the ICT industry, except for Malaysia and India.

Click here to get more complete and detail information about the ZDNet Asia IT Salary Benchmark 2009.


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BNM issues new design RM50 banknote with enhanced security features

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) starts to issue a new design RM50 banknote with enhanced security features from 15 July 2009.

The enhanced security features incorporated in this new design of RM50 banknote are:

• The Colour Shifting Security Thread which replaces the existing security thread and is embedded in the paper. The thread appears on the reverse side of the note as coloured intermittent lines. When held against light, it is seen as a continuous dark coloured line and the repeated text of BNM RM50 can be read. When the note is tilted, the colour of the thread changes from red to green and vice versa. Under ultra-violet light, the repeated text of BNM RM50 will fluoresce yellow and the thread is seen as a continuous fluorescent yellow line when the banknote is viewed from the obverse.
• The Two-Coloured Fluorescent Elements is an additional invisible printed feature on the reverse of the note. Under ultra-violet light, a complex design two-colour numeral 50 will fluoresce.

The existing security features which are designed for public verification remains as follows:

• The Watermark Portrait can be recognised by tints that are lighter or darker than the surrounding paper. This watermark portrait which has a three-dimensional effect appears without sharp outlines. At the base of the watermark, the numeral 50 is clearly visible.
• Perfect See-Through Register features the songket design on the obverse and reverse of the banknote when it is held against the light.
• Invisible Fluorescent Elements of the background on the obverse and reverse of the banknote which fluoresces in different colours under ultra-violet light.
• Micro-Letterings of "BNM RM50" which can be viewed under a magnifying glass.
• Holographic Stripe features the numeral 50 and hibiscus flower.
• Multicolor Latent Image where the numeral 50 is visible when the banknote is tilted slightly and changes colour when it is rotated.
• Anti-Scanner feature in which certain design cannot be captured by scanning machines.
• Braille Feature for the visually impaired.

According to BNM, existing design series of the RM50 banknote will continue to remain legal tender and will co-circulate with the new RM50 banknotes as the former are gradually phased out. No time limit has been set on the duration of co-circulation.

Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2009

Mercer’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey covers 143 cities across 6 continents and measures against New York on the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

The resulting Cost of Living Information Report (non-free) is considered as the world's most comprehensive survey of its kind and is intended to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.

The report includes comprehensive information such as city-to-city index comparison, expatriate accommodation costs, education costs, business travel expenses, actual price list, and the list of stores and sources.

Based on the latest report dated March 2009, Tokyo is the most expensive city to live in, while Johannesburg is the cheapest. It is observed that cities in the US, China, Japan and the Middle East have surged in the ranking.

The top 20 expensive cities ranked in 2009 are:

• Tokyo, Japan
• Osaka, Japan
• Moscow, Russia
• Geneva, Switzerland
• Hong Kong, China
• Zurich, Switzerland
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• New York, US
• Beijing, China
• Singapore, Singapore
• Milan, Italy
• Shanghai, China
• Paris, France
• Oslo, Norway
• Caracas, Venezuela
• London, UK
• Tel Aviv, Israel
• Rome, Italy
• Helsinki, Finland
• Dubai, UAE

Click here for the top 50 cities ranking in the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2009.

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