According to Clio’s George Psiharis, competition for tech talent in Canada is fierce and the HR Tech Group’s recently released 2021 Tech Salary Survey supports that claim.
The BC-based non-profit association for HR, People and Culture professionals found that salary increases in 2021 blew past compensation budgets as tech companies increase salaries to attract and retain critical talent in a highly competitive talent market.
Their 2021 survey reports on BC and Alberta tech sector compensation and policy data from 184 companies, including salary data from over 25,000 incumbents across 215 positions.
According to the survey, this year’s median salary increase budget was 3.5%, however the actual applied increases were much higher. From 2020 to 2021, salaries saw a median increase of 4.8%.
For common incumbents (the same employees from the same organizations in the same roles) the median salary increase was even higher at 5.4%.
With demand much higher than supply for many tech roles, companies are under substantial pressure to pay higher salaries to obtain the talent they need.
The 2021 data shows many instances where new hires are being paid more than common incumbents for fast moving jobs, driving up market pay for these jobs.
Software Development topped the list of disciplines for which organizations have the most difficulty recruiting, and in 2021 the Software Developer data shows new hires coming in with higher salaries than existing incumbents.
“With Canada’s booming tech sector hitting new venture capital records, we don’t expect the upward pressure on salaries to let up anytime soon,” said Stephanie Hollingshead, Chief Executive Officer for HR Tech Group.
“Our survey is showing that the median planned headcount growth for 2021 is 25% and for 2022 it is 20%. This represents substantial hiring for the tech sectors in these two provinces and our members are telling us that salary pressure is particularly high in Vancouver this year.”
Conducted by Mercer, the HR Tech Group 2021 Tech Salary Survey is available for purchase at www.hrtechgroup.com.