"We seldom hire senior-level IT staff, because our staff here has the best understanding of our business domain and users' requirements," he said. "They play a major role in project management, while the other centers take up the actual development job."

However not all employers are willing to provide training, claimed Sullivan from Hudson.

"Most companies only want to hire people with experience, but provide limited training and commitment in employees," she said. "Employers need to be more strategic in deciding how to prepare younger IT candidates."

Stagg agreed limited training is provided from the employers, but also noted they are discouraged by the high turnover rate.

"If you talk with anybody in Hong Kong that has been working in the IT sector for more than 10 years, they don't send their staff in training courses, because as soon as they train them, employees tend to leave and get a new job that pays more," he said. "Then they'll have to recruit and train [new employees] all over again."