SALARIES for employees with a minimum of five years’ experience are expected to grow 20-40% next year when they seek new employment, according to a study by a professional recruitment consultancy.

Robert Walters PLC, a global specialist professional recruitment consultancy, said that the outlook for hiring remains “dynamic.”

“In 2018, companies will be expected to provide respectable wage increases and competitive salaries in this candidate-driven market,” the company said in its Salary Survey 2018 report.

Robert Walters Philippines country manager Eric Mary told reporters in a roundtable discussion that increases in salaries for employees switching companies is a “strategy to attract the right talent.”

In the field of accounting and finance, active jobseekers will be expecting pay rises of between 20-30%, and the overall range of salaries is also expected to increase, based on the demand for finance candidates with strong accounting experience, leadership skills, and business acumen, due to the growing number of multinational companies setting up operations in the Philippines.

Trends in salary increments for incumbent human resources (HR) employees will remain the same next year, said the company.

“Human resources mid-level candidates received salary increments of up to 30% in 2017, while more senior talent received average raises of 15%. We expect a similar pattern in 2018,” the study said.

Hiring managers will be looking for HR professionals with experience in transformation and change management, given the need for optimized organizational structures with the increasingly competitive market. “However, skilled HR professionals may be hard to find in the growing shared services market.”

The outlook for information technology (IT) continues to be positive, but increasing digitalization and the growth of e-commerce will generate demand for more specific skill sets.

“We can see a trend of digitalization and development of e-commerce will have an impact on the demand for the IT profile,” Mr. Mary said.

Robert Walters said that continued disruption will produce a need for professionals skilled in cloud computing, platform-based solutions, and social data-intensive business models, and interest in customer data will drive demand for big-data engineers and data scientists.

Mr. Mary added that jobseekers place great importance on the brand and culture of the company they apply for.

“People want an environment where they can learn… this is important for the company,” Mr. Mary said. Working culture also starts in the application process. “It starts with the interview, and giving feedback to the candidate.” — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

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