Morgan McKinley: High earning potential for technology professionals in Canada despite market conditions

TORONTO, Feb. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- 76% of employees in technology roles across Canada are looking to move jobs in the first half of the year, according to new research.

According to the research by global talent services company, Morgan McKinley for its 2023 Salary Guide, one in two (50%) of technology employers in Canada believe they will lose staff in the first half of 2023 due to higher earning potential elsewhere.

The survey revealed that 59% of Canadian employees are expecting their salaries to increase this year, whilst 23% think their salary will stay the same. 65% are also expecting some form of bonus payout.

70% of employers had to offer higher than expected salaries to attract new employees over the past 12 months. Furthermore, 60% of employers in Canada think that salaries in their specific sector will rise in 2023.

Ian Kinsella, Managing Director of Morgan McKinley Canada, commented: "Many technology companies in Canada will be approaching 2023 cautiously, having learnt some important lessons last year. When faced with a market correction, many leaders came forward to say they made mistakes and hired aggressively. All that said, when consumer demand spikes like it did in 2020/2021, it's hard to see any other outcome than a hiring surge. We might see certain companies begin to loosen hiring freezes in the first few months of this year; especially those that enforced freezes early in 2022."

"When times are tough, companies turn to hiring contractors, which offers a loophole around headcount challenges. Last year, this was evident in Cyber Security where companies were able to get budget signed off to continue hiring as fears of ransomware and cyber hacks grew. We expect the contracting market in technology to be more buoyant again this year."

"Even with a market correction and a potential global recession, our guide showed that technology salaries in Canada increased. A key difference is that the $200K job offers that were frequent in 2021 for individual contributors working across product, software and SRE were few and far between."

The Morgan McKinley 2023 Salary Guide presents up-to-date salary data for a wide range of technology roles across Canada, providing hiring managers with industry benchmarks when they are working out what to pay employees and giving professionals more visibility over what they can earn.

Research from businesses and professionals was conducted to find out what companies' hiring intentions are for 2023, whether there is an appetite to change jobs, and what the expectations are for movement on salaries.

Kinsella concluded: "It's a great time to hire as there is likely to be less competition whilst companies figure out what their needs are for this year. Still, it's important to be mindful of benchmarks - you don't want to over-offer, but equally you need to be paying salaries that are attractive to high performers. The top talent knows their market worth, so businesses will still need to meet the salary expectations of 2021, or more."

For the Morgan McKinley Canada 2023 Salary Guide, visit: https://www.morganmckinley.com/ca/salary-guide

About Morgan McKinley

Morgan McKinley is a global talent services expert, offering the full spectrum of solutions to meet employers' and jobseekers' needs. With 19 offices in 10 countries and nearly 1000 employees, it provides 3 distinct solutions for customers. Morgan McKinley Recruitment Solutions encompassing deep expertise across 10 professional disciplines offering temporary, contract and permanent recruitment; Morgan McKinley Executive Search for targeted C-Suite talent searches; and Morgan McKinley Talent Solutions including RPO, MSP, Project Recruitment and more.

https://www.morganmckinley.com

Contact: Sharmee Mavadia, smavadia@morganmckinley.co.uk