hiring cost

September 23, 2026 | 20 min

The True Cost of an IT Hire: Wage, Statutory On-Costs, and Coverage Economics in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States

A labour-economics report for anyone budgeting an IT team across Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States. It asks what one IT employee actually costs an employer once statutory on-costs and coverage economics are counted, and why that number resolves so differently in three markets that look comparable on a salary table. Built on MPFA, CPF Board, MOM, Hong Kong C&SD, US BLS, SSA, IRS and KFF figures confirmed at the time of writing, with every assumption disclosed and every excluded cost named. It deliberately does not answer whether to hire or outsource — that comparison is already published, per market, and is linked instead.