BY WINSTON CHAI

MONEY talks, and when it comes to taking on contract jobs, the chatter is the loudest among workers in the technology sector in Singapore.

According to a survey by recruitment firm Robert Walters, employees from IT and telecommunications (IT&T) companies place the greatest emphasis on pay when assessing a contract position.

Just under 35 per cent of the IT&T respondents here chose 'premium salary' as the primary motivation for becoming a contract staff, the highest among the various vertical sectors polled. Banking industry personnel were next in line at 20.51 per cent, the findings revealed.

However, pay took a back-seat in the manufacturing and sales and marketing communications sectors where a mere 1.92 per cent of respondents cited higher salaries as the driving force behind their decision to take on contract roles.

While a fatter paycheck mattered most, other factors such as exposure to other domain areas and industries, as well the prospect of better flexibility, also weighed in on a technology worker's assessment.

Over 28 per cent of IT&T respondents chose better exposure as their primary motivation, while flexibility came in third at some 27 per cent.

Some 1,006 workers here were polled under the Robert Walters regional survey, which was conducted in four other markets besides Singapore - Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and China.

Specifically, the company was hoping to pin down the swing votes affecting a candidate's decision to accept a contract position.

With the onset of the economic crisis hampering long-term recruitment plans, time-limited hiring has emerged as a popular way for employers to sidestep the hiring freeze.

'Across the financial services and commerce sectors, there has been a significant increase in contract employment. As a result of the market downturn, many organisations are under tremendous pressure to manage their costs or keep them as low as possible,' said Mark Ellwood, Robert Walters managing director for the Asian region excluding Japan.

'It is also much easier to get signed off on contract hires as the costs are usually written off as part of a project budget or expense, rather than shown as a fixed cost to the company,' he added.

Robert Walters used to have a team specialising in contract hiring for the IT&T sector but the focus has now been expanded to more verticals as a result of the heightened demand, according to Axer Goh, a senior consultant with the company's IT contracting division.

'Retrenchment exercises across various sectors have also led to an increased number of candidates being available in the market. With demand outstripping the job supply, we believe candidates are beginning to have more realistic expectations and are also more willing to consider contract options, in order to stay employed,' she added.

This article was first published in The Business Times.