Application Development Careers In Hong Kong

Reports from top recruitment firms and market trend analysts concur that jobs in the IT market are on the rise in Hong Kong.

Reading Time:2 minutes

Image courtesy of tigger11th / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Published: 3:22pm, 30 Jul 2014

Reports from top recruitment firms and market trend analysts concur that jobs in the IT market are on the rise in Hong Kong. The first two quarters of 2014 revealed a steady demand for junior and mid-level IT personnel with strengths in application development and programming. The widespread use of mobile devices has caused an evolution in the way individuals and businesses operate and communicate, opening the doors wide for mobile technology and application development careers in Hong Kong.

Flurry reported in April 2014 that mobile app usage totalled 86 per cent of the average US mobile user’s time. This number has steadily risen over the past six years since Flurry first started tracking the trend, solidifying the fact that application development is no fleeting career, and the opportunities for growth are nearly boundless. In fact “Smartphone App Developer” tops the list of hot IT roles in the US and Hong Kong.

Programmer analysts play a vital role in the development and implementation of new applications. They talk with the customer/user to gain an understanding of what they need the programme or application to do. Next is the actual design and coding of the programme, followed by communication with the customer about implementation and bug fixes. Consensus is that the demand for skilled mobile application developers far exceeds the talent pool and could be a wise career move for those interested in analyst programmer jobs, especially in Hong Kong.

Businesses of all sizes are using technological advances to streamline and improve their processes. The current and likely permanent trend is to automate many functions at the point of sale (pricing, inventory, budget, ordering) as well as in the back office (human resources, product planning, marketing, technology). As a result, the growth of Point of Sale () and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications and software is expanding the need for a new breed of systems analysts.

Traditionally, systems analysts configure, maintain and support the computers in a workplace, aiming to meet the needs of all employees with equipment and software. The new demand for companies with system analyst jobs is to streamline a single application to manage all facets of an organisation, while also being customisable for the specific needs of a business. Successful system analysts will have strong technical skills, as well as strengths in communication, collaboration, flexibility, responsiveness, and awareness of best practices and standards in their customer’s area.

Additional areas of growth include cloud and virtualisation services, calls for experienced network engineers, system architects and technical consultants with strong skills in client interaction. IT compliance officers and auditors are also in high demand as these professionals contribute to a company’s longevity and ensure compliance with rapidly changing technology laws and regulations. Also, data centres in Hong Kong are growing, increasing the need for data centre operation managers and solution architects.