Information Technology Managers In Asia Among World's Lowest Paid

IT managers in Vietnam and the Philippines - at $15,470 and $22,280, respectively - receive the lowest average annual salaries among their peers in Asia, according to a new survey released this week by Mercer. Indian counterparts rank fourth from the bottom of a global list, earning an average of $25,000 annually.

The highest salaries are in Switzerland where an IT managers gets $140,960 a year. A counterpart in the United States and the United Kingdom earn an average of $107,500 and $118,190 a year, respectively.

The top 10 paying countries are Switzerland, Denmark ($123,080), Belgium ($121,170), UK, Ireland ($)108,230, US, Germany ($106,730), Canada ($93,860), Hong Kong ($90,340) and Australia ($88,850).

The lowest 10 paying are Vietnam, Bulgaria ($22,240), Philippines, India, Indonesia ($31,720), Shanghai, China ($33,770), Malaysia ($35,260), Czech Republic ($35,880), Beijing, China ($36,220) and Argentina ($43,180). Beijing and Shanghai were treated as separate markets.

Cash remains a large incentive for staff in Asia while Western countries tend to rely on other factors such as bonus schemes.

"Lower-level roles are being moved to regions where talent is cheaper; the jobs that remain in Western Europe and the United States may be fewer in number but are more demanding and complex roles like vendor relationship managers, internal consultants and IT business partners," Mercer IT workforce specialist David Van De Voort told ZDNetAsia.