The research report shows that despite the recent "layoffs" of large technology companies, Southeast Asian startups are still facing a shortage of technology talent due to the expansion of recruitment by traditional companies and their limited ability to provide high salaries.。

According to Singapore talent recruitment platform Glints, about 86% of founders said they would expand their workforce this year.。Among them, engineers and data scientists are still in high demand, with the position earning an average of 38% more than non-technical positions such as sales and marketing.。

Singapore tech giant Sea laid off more than 7,000 employees last year, while Indonesia's GoTo also cut about 12 percent of its workforce amid slowing growth and recession fears.。In addition, large U.S. technology companies with branches in the region, such as Google, Facebook parent Meta and Amazon, have also laid off workers.。

However, due to the digitalization of traditional industries such as banking and retail, the demand for technology talent remains high and is growing。

Oswald Yeo, co-founder and CEO of Glints, said: "Today, tech talent is being reallocated from large tech companies and growth companies to early-stage startups, which is a sign of a very healthy industry ecology.。There will be less competition for tech talent compared to the past two years。"

Glints is one of the most active recruitment platforms in the region, connecting more than 3 million professionals with 50,000 startups.。

Glints and Monk's Hill Ventures analyzed more than 10,000 data points related to recruitment information in the database, as well as more than 500 startups and employees in Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.。

The study shows that engineers are the most sought-after talent in all three regional markets, with positions such as vice president of engineering earning a base salary of 23 a year last year..$520,000。Second, people with professional skills such as products and data are paid the highest。

Justin Nguyen, general partner at Monk's Hill Ventures, noted that despite this, the gap between supply and demand for engineers is still quite large.。The venture capital firm said Vietnam, for example, has an annual shortage of 100,000 engineers in the job market.。

But against the backdrop of growing recession pressure and a darkening funding outlook, startups have also had to be more selective in hiring, with many companies having to tighten their pay compared to previous years when they were flush with cash。

Separately, the report expects high-wage growth in tech jobs to "slow or flat" this year.。Glints said Indonesia's growth rate is expected to be as high as 10 per cent, down from 25-40 per cent over the past few years; as for Singapore and Vietnam, their growth ceilings could be halved to 15 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.。

Industry insiders say that for many startups, now is the time。Founders now need to do more with less, while adhering to an operating model that focuses on profitability and positive cash flow。

To supplement this, a growing number of startups are letting team members own shares in the company, with 86% of companies surveyed offering employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), but only limited to one-third of respondents, mainly managers and executives.。

In response, Nguyen believes that companies are still in the early stages of the ESOP ecosystem, that the program's ability to retain employees is temporarily limited, and that the ESOP pool in Southeast Asia is much smaller than in more mature markets such as the United States and China.。